| Course Title: Uranium |
| Start Date: 01/27/2026 End Date: 05/12/2026 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2026 |
| Description: From the A-bomb to zircon, uranium has revolutionized humanity's destructive potential and wisdom about time. Uranium is the planet's heaviest naturally occurring element, and it transforms by both radioactive decay and nuclear fission. This course explores these two transformations and what we make of them, specifically: nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear wastelanding, radiation and health, and research on deep time. We use modeling to explore high-precision dating of recent geologic and climate events as well as the age of the oldest rocks on earth. Some math is involved. Writing and reading assignments focus on science communication for a general audience. |
| Distribution(s): II - Math & Sciences |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Michelle Markley | 413-538-2814 | mmarkley@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 01/27/2026 - 05/12/2026 | Lecture | Tuesday and Thursday | 01:45PM - 03:00PM | CLAP - Clapp Laboratory | 301 | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: One course in Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Math, Physics, or Statistics. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags | ||
| ENVST-NS | ENVST-NS: Env Studies pre-2024 Minor - Natural Science | This course has been approved to count towards the Environmental Studies minor Natural Science area. |
| ENVST-CRSE | ENVST-EL: Env Studies Electives | This course is an approved elective for the Environmental Studies major and minor. |
| GEOL0001 | GEOL-1: Geology major and minor | This course counts toward the Geology major and minor. |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open | Capacity: 20 | Enrollment: 15 | Available: 5 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| To be determined. |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class. |