Search for January 2025 Term Courses

The topic of Human Rights is a recently invented discourse, and one that has contributed to many positive changes around the globe since 1948. Even so, definitions, responsibilities, and the cross-cultural context of these “rights” remain a source of debate and accusation as a great many humans in the world continue to suffer. This course examines the concept of Human Rights critically, with an eye for cross-cultural variation, and with a particular focus on rights that are health-related including climate change, human environments, and human rights and health. A diversity of students will benefit from the lectures, case studies, and dialogues in this seminar, but a goal of the course is to prepare students for careful inquiry to and application of this powerful policy idea for both international and local settings. In the Taos campus version of this course, we engage heavily in applying anthropological frameworks and materials in New Mexico through various fieldtrips focusing specifically on engineering and human health in Taos and Northern New Mexico.

This course examines Native American, Spanish, and Anglo arts and cultures of the American Southwest between 100 CE and the 21st century. It considers the effects of ethnicity, gender, and community identity on regional art traditions and places artworks within their material, religious, political, and economic contexts. Astronomical alignments, water, earth and sky, spirits and saints, the living and their ancestors—these are among the themes in the art of the region. Emphasis is placed on careful seeing, individual analysis and reflection, and collaborative learning. Arts of the American Southwest is designed for SMU-in-Taos. Many class days include field trips or interactive projects. Films, readings, and PowerPoint slide talks set the stage for visits to artists’ studios, archaeological sites, pueblos, churches, and museums. Hands-on art projects are simple and require no previous art experience to succeed. They will help you understand the technical and aesthetic qualities of artworks we study in this class. Watch Course Video

An overview of the ecology, evolution, and identification of plants and animals of the Southwest region. The course will heavily rely on the wildlife around Taos as a teaching tool. You will go on 2 hikes, learn to identify plants and animals, and give two presentations on evolution and wildlife. An introduction to the major concepts of biological thought for the nonscience major. Learn about the geology and ecology of the Southwest, the role human plays in conservation and sustainability of our planet, and the major events that took place in the evolution of life. BIOL 1300 is not open to students with prior credit in BIOL 1301 or BIOL 1401.

Provides a first introduction to the exciting field of data science using applications and case studies from various domains (e.g., social media, marketing, sociology, engineering, digital humanities). Introduces data-centric thinking, including a discussion of how data is acquired, managed, manipulated, visualized, and used, to support problem-solving. The fundamental practical skills necessary are taught in class, and each step is illustrated with small examples. Tools presented in this course include SQL and Excel, along with other state-of-the-art tools. No prior knowledge of statistics, math, or programming is necessary.

This interdisciplinary course explores the history of New Mexico, from the pre-contact era to the present. In the first half of the class, we will consider New Mexico’s successive and overlapping waves of human settlement, from Pueblo Indians, to the Spanish Empire, the Mexican Republic, and the United States, with particular attention to the complex relationships between Native peoples, Hispanos, and Anglo-Americans. Then we will turn to a handful of key topics that continue to define the so-called Land of Enchantment even today: religion and spirituality; the natural world (particularly New Mexico’s scarce water resources); and its enduring cultural symbolism as reflected in literature and film.

This course introduces religion in the context of globalization and modernity. Taos is an ideal place to study this as several global faiths are represented in town. We will visit sites relevant to Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism as well as consider 'New Age' and indigenous traditions and material culture and the ways religion can be marketized and commercialized for non-adherents. Watch Course Video

Review of fundamentals of vibrations with application of simple machine and structural members. Topics include harmonic motion, free and forced vibration, resonance, damping, isolation, and transmissibility. Single, multiple, and infinite degree-of-freedom systems are also examined. Mechanical Engineering students must complete over 120 credit hours to obtain their bachelor's degree from SMU. Many of these students highly value the chance to take their core ME course in Taos, with its stunning scenery, intimate class sizes, skiing, and hospitable environment.

The Jan Term Mountain Sports class in Taos will be focused on winter sports and fitness. Students will receive ski and snowboard instruction. Exercise and health-related fitness principles as described in the course objectives will be reviewed and discussed in which presentation/lecture/discussion will replace the workout for those class periods. Students will create a personal fitness plan. A knowledge test will be administered at the end of the term. Each student will be provided with lift passes to Taos Ski Valley, lessons, and ski/snowboard gear.

This interdisciplinary and experiential course examines the intersections of food and identity in the Southwest. Through literary and scholarly texts, film, fine arts, pop culture, and experiences, students explore topics such as heritage and tradition, cultural contact and exchange, conquest, resistance and revolution, issues of gender, and responses to modernity and change in the so-called “American Southwest.” Examines how technology (including agriculture, cooking technology, commercial farming, global trade networks, and social media) impacts the production, consumption, distribution, dynamics of power, and systems of meaning of food and eating in this region. Watch Course Video