A University Without Walls

1. A University Without Walls Chris Sorensen Physics

4. A tendency to specialize, to draw back to the familiar, the safe. We build walls. • Very useful to overcome these walls. Why? • The current vogue in science. • Creativity is often found at interfaces.

6. Koestler’s Bisociation

7. What are our walls? • Walls of our disciplines • Teaching • Research • Walls of human interaction • Professor – student • Professor – professor • Student -student

8. Can we be a community of scholars?

9. Center for Molecular and Solid State Energetics

11. Materials ChemistryCHEM 820 Team taught: Aakeroy, Bossmann, Chikan, Higgins, Hollingsworth, Klabunde, Maatta, and Sorensen Subjects: Bonding, Crystals, Properties, Characterization, Nanostructures, Polymers, Biomaterials

12. Streamlined Classes • Offer an existing 3 hour class for 1 hour too. • Students who enroll for 1 hour are responsible for about 1/3 of the material. • Instructor lectures, assigns homework, gives exams as normal for the 3 hours, but the “streamlined” students are only graded on a “designated 1/3”. We don’t want an extra burden on the instructor. • The “designated 1/3” is predetermined.

13. Scattering Techniques in Physical Science PHYS 808 Fall 2008 For either 3 or 1 credit (see below) 11:30 to 12:45 TU Instructor: Chris Sorensen, University Distinguished Professor The scattering of light, X-rays and neutrons gives us a window into a great variety of condensed, and not so condensed, matter systems to see the arrangement and motions of their atoms and molecules. These scattering techniques are also illuminating for colloidal and aerosol systems for measuring particle size, morphology and kinetics. This class will develop the intuition and theory necessary for a fundamental understanding of scattering and to apply these techniques in an experimental setting. Hands-on demonstrations and simulations will be used when possible. The class is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students and an interdisciplinary audience of physicists, chemists and engineers. The three credit class will involve some theoretical derivation of the key results. For example, we will work through the classical Mie derivation for light scattering by spheres. Hence a prerequisite of Electromagnetism I, PHYS 532, or equivalent is required. Students enrolled for the one credit “streamlined” class will avoid these major theoretical expositions etc. and will be responsible for about one third of the material of the three credit version. The only prerequisite for the streamlined version is sophomore physics such as PHYS 213 and 214.

14. Streamlined Inorganic Chemistry I CHEM 711 TEXT: Inorganic Chemistry by Miessler and Tarr

15. Streamline Organic Chemistry I (page 2)

16. Buffet Majors • Student pick from a smorgasbord of classes from a variety of disciplines. • To gain a “major” for graduation, a specified number of hours of “core” courses must be accumulated across the buffet. • This will work for all degrees, BA, BS, masters and PhD, with the proper definitions • The degree will be named Integrated Science with emphasis in…

17. A Possible Buffet Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Physics Common Courses: Chem. I, II, Calc. I, II III, Physics I, II Core Courses for BS

18. C. P. Snow. The Two Cultures (1959) “For I constantly felt I was moving among two groups---comparable in intelligence… who had ceased to communicate…”

19. Teaching Across the Divide • We have physics for poets, why not poetry for physicists? • Jack Holl “The History of Science”. • PHYS 101 (P. World) ca. 30% readings of the great scientists. Primary Texts prog. • The Great Conversations, DAS 300. • Origins program.

20. The Physical World 1Primary TextPHYS 101 Standard physical plus short readings from :

21. Great Ideas in Physics Fall 2005 Physics 460, 1 credit hour Instructor: Professor Chris Sorensen Thursday, 10:30, CW 145, Ref. #21925 We will meet once a week to discuss our readings of the original works of some of the great physicists from antiquity to the present. I will lecture, guide the students through these works, and facilitate discussion. The students will read and study the works, participate in class discussion and give class presentations on scientific works of their choice. The purpose of this course is to gain a historical perspective on the evolution of physics and gain insight to creative scientific thought that we can apply to our own, present day work.

22. DAS 300: The Great Conversation: Primary Texts Core Course Team-taught, Dr. Laurie M. Bagby, lead instructor Features: Primary Texts Certificate Instruction on the techniques of careful reading of works that are often complex and multidimensional. Significant texts that have important themes in intellectual history, Ongoing historical “conversation” of great ideas in fields ranging from philosophy to literature to science traced through history Participating Instructors: Bagby, Lead Instructor, Political Science, Donnelly, English, Frey, History, Franke, Political Science, Sorensen, Physics

24. Instructional Facilities • “Open” class rooms (studios), lecture halls (superstudios) to promote student-teacher and student-student interactions. • Eng. Phys. I and II • Optics Studio • Physics SWAT • Nichols Theater • Univ. Michigan

30. Communal student help rooms • One room a few faculty spending their office hour in the room taking all comers. “A neutral field.”

31. Research Facilities • Open labs. Shared space and equipment and so much more. • Openness to foster interactions. • Science Café.

32. Good Architecture • The physical environment can give sense of: • community • promote creativity • Inspire • Plan buildings based on neighborhoods: • suites of offices and labs • shared equipment • interactive spaces

36. Interdisciplinary Faculty Hiring Program at the University of Michigan • 100 new interdisciplinary faculty • $30 million: $10M for salaries, $20M for start up. • $2.5M for team teaching and new, interdisciplinary classes.

37. Team Teaching • Harvard: Physical and Life Sciences five faculty/semester from biology, chemistry and physics. • Princeton: Science majors, integrated program. • Columbia: General Ed., diverse topics, scientific habits.

38. Northwestern University Integrated Science Program

39. On Oct. 23,1927, three days after its invention, the first rubber band Is tested.

40. Technology Entrepreneurship • A bridge between the scientific/engineering and business/entrepreneurial worlds. • Open to any technical grad student. • Two year assistantship. • Three classes: • Mangt 845 (Team taught, Katz and two “who know what they are doing”) • Advanced Entrepreneurship • Venture Finance • Hands on, Preawards,NISTAC, KSURF, AMI, 2nd year focus

41. What Do We Do? • Streamlined courses • Buffet Majors • Interdisciplinary Courses • Team Teaching • Studios and Superstudios • Bridges to Real World • Interdisciplinary hires • Cluster Hires • Good architecture

42. …true reform will aim at the consilience of science with the social sciences and humanities in scholarship and teaching. Every college student should be able to answer the following question: What is the relation between science and the humanities, and how is it important for human welfare? Consilence, the Unity of Knowledge, Edward O. Wilson.