• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Instructor: Faye Walker
• Instructor Email: fayewalker@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Tuesday 12:00-12:50 in  HSSB 1237
• Enrollment Code: 63560

Course Description: Color.  Smell.  Place.  The making and interpreting of wine is an ancient, widespread trade that has appeared in texts from The Epic of Gilgamesh to the Song of Solomon.  Whether you are a novice or a devoted oenophile, this discovery seminar offers a chance to experience local viniculture.  We will explore the interplay of scientific modes and methods within the four major phases of winemaking:  macrobiological grape cultivation, microbiological fermentation, physical clarification, and chemical aging.  This seminar will culminate in an on-site, interactive tour of commercial winery facilities in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA.

Bio: Faye Walker teaches modern biochemical methods in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  Her publications appear in peer-reviewed journals, textbooks, patents, and newsletters.  She has worked in the chemical trade under international conglomerates and small start-ups—always with an eye for applications that promote human health and wellness.  A lifetime of training in the liberal arts and the technical sciences has given her an appreciation for the production and consumption of man-made beverages as a universal aspect of culture and cultivation.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Writing Program
• Instructor: Madeleine Sorapure
• Instructor Email: sorapure@ucsb.edu
• Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 11:00-11:50 in South Hall 1432
• *This seminar is add code only. Please email Professor Sorapure.
• Enroll Code: 63354

Course Description:  This seminar is intended for Humanities and Fine Arts majors considering how to take the academic skills they’ve developed in their major courses and demonstrate the relevance of these skills for the workplace (internships or jobs). We’ll discuss career readiness competencies in the context of humanities and fine arts majors. Students will redesign resumes and cover letters and will also develop a three-minute flash presentation on one of their humanities research projects or fine arts creations. Contact the instructor for an add code.

Bio:  Madeleine Sorapure is a Teaching Professor in the Writing Program and Associate Dean in the Division of Undergraduate Education. Her teaching and research focus on multimedia communication and professional writing.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Writing Program
• Instructor: Martha Webber
• Instructor Email: mwebber@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Wednesday 4:00-4:50 in HSSB 1232
• Enrollment Code: 63495

Course Description: How have hand-decorated t-shirts pinned to clotheslines helped campus audiences recognize violence in their communities? This seminar explores craft projects created to raise awareness, foster connections, and challenge perspectives. We’ll view examples of these projects through online image databases, documentaries, and short readings to consider their impact, with a focus on college campuses. We’ll also visit the library makerspace. You'll learn basic sewing, embroidery, and knitting (or crochet) stitches to make at least one crafted item and write a reflection about it. No previous craft experience needed and all materials provided.

Bio: Martha Webber teaches Writing 1, 2, 105PD, 107B, and 107WC for the Writing Program. She has a PhD in English with a specialization in Writing Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (and even an AA in Fashion Design). Her research on nonprofit organizations and literacy sponsorship has been published in Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Spanish & Portuguese
• Instructor: Nathalie Bragadir Thurman
• Instructor Email: nbragadir@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Thursday 3:00-3:50 in HSSB 1214
• Enrollment Code: 55491

Course Description: Can one truly return home? In this seminar, we will reflect on constructions of the patria and the home; on migrations, exile, and trauma; possible and impossible returns; personal returns and returns in the place of others; memory, nostalgia, recognition, alienation, and the uncanny. Beginning with the disillusionment of the classic homecoming of Odysseus, we then read the divergent perspectives on the return home of Hölderlin, Nabokov, and Camus, among others. We explore homecomings through the lens of gender, colonialism, immigration, and dictatorship in Latin America, a region whose history is marked by arrival, departure and forced separation. We conclude the course with the diasporic travel between the United States and the Caribbean, where the constant shuttling movement destabilizes the notion of home and belonging. Much of our discussions will be dedicated to understanding the myriad ways in which these journeyers have imagined themselves, their nations, and their communities through literature, film, and in daily life.

Bio: Nathalie Bragadir holds a B.A. in Spanish and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, a M.A. in Romance Languages from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Language and Literature from New York University.  She taught Spanish and Latin American literature and culture courses in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at the University of Southern California for seven years before becoming a lecturer at UCSB.  Her research interests include Caribbean, Atlantic, Hispaniola and Border Studies.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Exercise & Sport Studies
• Instructor: Amy Jamieson
• Instructor Email: amyjam@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Wednesdays 8:00 - 8:50 in Recen 2103
• Enrollment Code: 26757

Course Description: Students will explore concepts of personal fitness and Personal Training. Students will receive basic instruction in exercise science and perform practical application of goal setting, exercise development, and program design. The course information will allow students to explore the field of fitness and wellness with an emphasis on exercise development and program design.

Bio: Amy Jamieson is a professor and industry leader in the promotion of health, wellness, and exercise prescription. She currently teaches in the Department of Exercise & Sport Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. Amy has been actively involved in the field of exercise science as a lecturer and role model at UCSB for over twenty years. During this time she has trained hundreds of fitness professionals, developed curriculum, supervised student interns and fitness instructors, and served on numerous campus and community committees. Amy is active on the national and international stage as an annual presenter and attendee at various national and international wellness & fitness conferences. Professor Jamieson is board-certified in Nutrition through AASDN; Personal Training and Performance through NASM and Fitness Instruction through Schwinn and ACE. She is also a Certified ACE Health Coach and an ACE master instructor for the accredited program. Amy has become a leader in the growth and development of online education at UC Santa Barbara and the UC system. Professor Jamieson is well recognized as innovative and forward-thinking and therefore is the recipient of numerous educational grants.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Writing
• Instructor: Robert Samuels
• Instructor Email: rsamuels@writing.ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Thursday 10:00-10:50 in HSSB 1236
• Enrollment Code: 63396

Course Description: Drawing from my book Bad Beat Therapy, I will present a psychoanalytic understanding of risk, loss, superstition, frustration, and radical self-honesty in the context of the game of poker. In referring to research in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and clinical psychology, students will gain knowledge of key threshold concepts in these disciplines.

Bio: Dr. Robert Samuels teaches in the Writing Program. I have two doctorates, and I have published 25 books.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Classics
• Instructor: Annie K. Lamar
• Instructor Email: aklamar@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Tuesday 4:00-4:50 in HSSB 1210
• Enrollment Code: 55624

Course Description: This seminar introduces students to the Python programming language and the basic principles of computational research. Students will learn how to implement a variety of data-scientific methods ranging from statistical analysis to word embeddings. Through practice and provided examples, students will also learn how to preprocess texts and datasets, interpret computational evidence, and effectively incorporate data-driven analysis into humanistic arguments. No prior experience with coding is required or expected; advanced assignments will be available to those with prior experience in Python or other coding languages.

Bio: Annie K. Lamar specializes in low-resource computational linguistics with special interests in ancient Mediterranean languages and studies, particularly archaic Greek. She holds a PhD in Classics from Stanford University, an MA in Education Data Science from the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and both a BA in Classical Languages and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Puget Sound. Currently, Lamar is an Assistant Professor of Classics and the director of the Low-Resource Language (LOREL) Lab at University of California, Santa Barbara.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: College of Creative Studies and Writing Program
• Instructor: Michelle Petty
• Instructor Email: Mnpetty@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Wednesday 9:00-9:50 in CRST 143
• Enrollment Code: 62802

Course Description: We will spend the quarter thinking, journaling, and talking about local, global, and disciplinary delights that can be found, even in our increasingly dystopian world. Using Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights as our centering text, the class will allow us to explore how the simple and ordinary (food, friendship, the beach, and even what we’re learning about in our classes) can point us to surprising delights. This text is a UCSB Reads text and will be available for free at the library.

Bio: Michelle Petty is an assistant teaching professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She researches higher education pedagogy and writing studies through the lenses of intersectionality and critical digital literacies. She has previously published in multiple academic journals on Black language and literature in the college classroom, in addition to several poems and a short story in literary journals.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Communication
• Instructor: Renee Houston
• Instructor Email: rhouston@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Tuesday 11:00-11:50 in HSSB 1228
• Enrollment Code: 63511

Course Description: Learn how to identify your interests, apply for internships, and prepare for your professional future during this ten-week seminar. Students will learn best practices for constructing an effective  resume and cover letter, interviewing for internship positions, and presenting themselves as marketable in their future careers. Designed for upper-division Communication students, this course will provide you with resources to help you identify a great internship that will prepare you for the workforce. The course will be hands on and by completion you’ll have an internship-ready cover letter, resume, and LinkedIn profile. Students will also benefit from weekly lectures where past interns and industry experts share their insights and strategies for successfully securing internships.

Bio: Renee Houston ( Ph.D., The Florida State University) is an engaged communication teacher/scholar focused on developing stigma-based approaches to understanding social identity inequities that inform psychological and communication theory as well as organizational policy and practice. She’s also interested in identifying and implementing organizational practices that support employee empowerment, collaboration, and healthy work lives. Because her work engages the community, she’s committed to social learning practices that decenter expertise and create space for open, respectful, and collaborative solutions. As a lifelong advocate of whole-person approaches, Renee’s courses focus on exploring emotion, work-life and well-being, alternative organizing, and social identities in organizational contexts. Using a social learning approach to teaching she seeks to bring voice, connection, and justice to her students that inspires them to seek their life's purpose with skills, confidence, and joy. She is also an experienced higher education administrator with an extensive background in mentoring, program development, and education technology. Most recently, she developed several programs designed to provide key experiences that help college students move toward career choices. Her work was recognized with an award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Theater and Dance
• Instructor: June Yuen Ting
• Instructor Email: jyting@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Friday 3:00-3:50 in HSSB 2201 
• Enrollment Code: 63529

Course Description: An experiential learning course that combines performance visits with seminars on the socio-political contexts of the performing body. Students will attend dance, music, and theater performances as well as film screenings and artist talks in downtown Santa Barbara while studying how racial capitalism, settler colonialism, and heteropatriarchy shape the questions of representation, production, and embodiment in the performing arts and performance art in the US. Course readings will be drawn from performance studies, visual cultural studies, and critical race and ethnic studies.

Bio: June Yuen Ting is a visiting lecturer in modern dance and choreography at the Theater and Dance Department.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: East Asian languages and cultural studies
• Instructor: Wona Lee
• Instructor Email: wonalee@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Tuesday 2:00 - 2:50 in  HSSB 1237 
• Enrollment Code: 63537

Course Description: This seminar explores translanguaging—the fluid interaction between languages—as a dynamic cultural negotiation. Focusing on Park Sang Young's Love in the Big City, translated by Anton Hur, it examines how translanguaging challenges rigid linguistic boundaries, embracing hybrid practices. By bridging "monolingual" spaces, literary translation reveals new ways to view language, culture, and identity. Through the lens of sociolinguistics, the seminar investigates translanguaging’s role in shaping narratives, cultural representation, and storytelling, offering a deeper understanding of its transformative impact.

Bio: Dr. Wona Lee is a lecturer and program coordinator of Korean language in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies. Dr. Lee teaches Korean language courses at various levels, including introductory and intermediate, with the goal of improving students' language proficiency and cultural understanding. Her research interests include Korean-English bilingualism, Korean language education, and translanguaging practices.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Writing Program
• Instructor: Aili Pettersson Peeker
• Instructor Email: aili@writing.ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Friday 1:00-1:50 in  ILP 4211 
• Enrollment Code: 63552

Course Description: What can we learn about animals, about ourselves, and about our relationship with the world by writing about animals? This discovery seminar approaches these questions through explorations of how writers, philosophers, and artists write about animals, and through individual observation and writing. The course is well-suited for any student interested in studying animal behavior who would like to expand ways of knowing offered by the sciences through a humanistic approach. We will use writing as a tool and as an object of study in this course, and there will be weekly (short) reading and writing assignments.

Bio: Aili Pettersson Peeker is a full-time lecturer in the Writing Program. She holds a PhD in English with an emphasis in Cognitive Science from UCSB. Her research is interdisciplinary and focuses on bringing together cognitive neuroscience, literary studies, writing, and pedagogy. She is currently the Research Coordinator for the UCSB Trauma-Informed Pedagogy project.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
• Department: Writing Program
• Instructor: Peter Huk
• Instructor Email: phuk@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Monday 12:00-12:50 in South Hall 1432
• Enrollment Code: 63545

Course Description: This seminar offers a critical exploration of mindfulness and contemplative practices within educational contexts, examining their historical foundations, contemporary applications, and theoretical underpinnings. Students will engage with both practical applications and scholarly critique, investigating the intersection of ancient wisdom traditions with modern scientific understanding. The course combines experiential learning through mindfulness practices with rigorous academic analysis of source materials from various traditions and disciplines, with special attention to indigenous wisdom traditions and social justice applications.

Bio: Peter Huk teaches a variety of writing classes, primarily the engineering writing sequence, Writing for Global Careers, Writing for Film, and Writing for the Humanities. His pedagogy and research interests include contemplative inquiry and reflection in the writing classroom, representation in documentary film, and prison pedagogy.

• Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery+
• Department: Writing & Writing
• Instructor: Patricia Fancher & Dan Frank
• Instructor Email: pfancher@ucsb.edu, dmfrank@ucsb.edu
• Day – Time – Room: Tuesday 2:00-3:50 in GIRV 1115
• Enrollment Code: 62364

Course Description: During your time at UCSB, ChatGPT and other Large Language Models have changed every aspect of university writing. This class takes up AI generative writing as an object of inquiry and a space for experimentation including practical, critical, and ethical considerations. There will be a tour of AI technology, from its historical origins, into the archives, beyond ChatGPT and into speculative futures of cutting edge technology. Students will 1) present on ethical dimensions of technology, 2) write archival research on the history of technology, and 3) end the class with a collaborative showcase of human and AI writing and art.

Bio: Patricia Fancher teaches writing across many genres, including academic, multimedia and creative nonfiction. Her teaching enables students to conduct original research and create work that they are proud to showcase and publish. Patricia’s first book, Queer Techné: Bodies, Rhetorics, and Desire in the History of Computing, traces the queer community behind the invention of digital computers. She is currently working on a second book, a collection of essays building off her essays published in The Sun, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Autostraddle and other magazines.

Daniel Frank teaches First Year Composition, multimedia, and technical writing. Dan’s research interests include AI Art and Writing technologies, game-based pedagogy, virtual text-spaces, passionate affinity spaces, and connected learning. Dan is continually interested in helping students find their own passion as they learn to create, play, and communicate research, argumentation, and writing, across genres, networks, and digital communities.