The class explains the use of drone-mounted sensors to characterize the Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk prehistoric effigy mounds in Putnam County, Georgia. Aerial photogrammetry, ground penetrating radar (GPR), and data analysis, together with the archaeological and geological context for these important sites will be discussed in detail. Learn what may have prompted early Georgia inhabitants to construct these large sites that are estimated to have been constructed between 1,000 to 3,000 years ago.

Fertility rates have been declining in the U.S. and abroad for several decades—from the post-war Baby Boom to an unprecedented fertility low. The depth of the current decline is greater than demographers had anticipated, and if it continues, will force changes in important societal institutions like retirement funding. This class will address first, the current dimensions of the decline in fertility and likely causes (there are many), and second, the record of policy successes and failures. During the course of the discussion, the class will consider what should be the goals for policies regarding fertility.

This class is based on the book, The Double Helix (1968) by James Watson that concerns the discovery of of DNA’s structure in 1953. Watson's book was an immediate best seller and controversial, not least because of his treatment of Rosalind Franklin. We will go through the process whereby Watson and Crick realized their model and how it could be replicated in living things. We will also discuss the Franklin controversy and why she did not receive a Nobel Prize. The book is both a classic and a great read! I recommend two versions: The Norton Critical Edition reprints several reviews of the book when it came out. Note the review by Jacob Bronowski (of Human Odyssey fame) who got it right on! The Annotated and Illustrated Edition by Gann and Witkowski (2012) is superb with many annotations and additional photographs that add significantly to the entire, classic tale.

Volcanoes have always given rise to powerful emotions. They simultaneously fascinate and frighten those who live on their slopes when they erupt. Approximately 1.1 billion people live or lived within 100 km of active volcanoes that erupted in the last 10,000 years. Many eruptions, especially explosive ones, might occur without giving a clue of upcoming disaster. Volcanologists still strive to accurately forecast the likelihood, magnitude, and style of eruptions. This presentation offers cases of cohabitation between people and active volcanoes, the related pros and cons, and how modern volcanology offers information to thriving 21st-century societies facing the impact of climate change on a regional to global scale. In-class demonstrations, rocks, and slides will be presented.

We will examine how geologists recognize and study asteroid and comet impacts in Earth's past. We will also investigate the occurrences of meteorite falls in Georgia including the recent McDonough meteorite. And we will explore the record of much larger impacts preserved in the rocks of our state, including the fallout from the Chesapeake Bay impact 35.5 million years ago that rained down across the Coastal Plain and the enormous 220-kilometer-diameter Roosevelt impact structure that formed more than 800 million years ago when a rock almost 30 kilometers wide penetrated the crust of west-central Georgia.