<p>yo yo yo</p>
<p>I am not the greatest student in the sciences or math (but I plan on taking some stat/calc classes, at a relatively low level), are there any relatively easy classes to fulfill the science and math requirements with? particularly the sciences. Do I basically HAVE to take lab courses in chem, bio, or physics?</p>
<p>Really depends what your interests are. I fulfilled my math distribution requirements with computer science courses and logic, through the philosophy department. There are a bunch of courses designed specifically for non-science kids to get a science distribution requirement, like Plants & Humanity, Physics for Humanists or the Physics of Music and Color. Other courses popular for vanquishing that pesky science distribution requirement are biological anthropology, environmental biology, human nutrition, and geology. Also, there are a number of half-credit engineering courses, many of which are quite interesting, that can be counted against the science distribution requirement.</p>
<p>awesome! some of those classes you listed actually sound pretty interesting. I might go about fulfilling some math dists. with logic, seems like a really good way to do it for somebody who has some interest in philosophy.</p>
<p>I’m a philosophy major, so understandably I really loved the course. People tend to think the course will be easier than it really is, though.</p>
<p>thats fine, I honestly would probably be taking (and who knows, maybe majoring) classes in the phil. dept anyways.</p>
<p>Snarf:</p>
<p>My D just finished her freshman year at Tufts and is considering a double major in Math and Philosphy. How have the courses been in the Philosophy Department? The professors? Did you/are you going to Study Abroad?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>The Philosophy Department is absolutely excellent, one of the strongest the school has to offer and extremely well-regarded nationally. Professor Brian Leiter, known for his law school and philosophy grad school rankings, claims Tufts’ masters’ program is the strongest in the country, unequivocally stating “[a]mong terminal MA programs, the top program in the U.S. (in terms of faculty quality) is Tufts University”, and unlike some colleges, Tufts does not have a distinction between professors who teach grad classes and professors who teach undergrads. In fact, ambitious philosophy students take grad courses.
I really can’t say enough good things about the philosophy department. I’ll mention that its specific strengths are philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and cognitive philosophy, though political and ethical philosophy are quite strong as well.</p>
<p>I did study abroad, but not in relation to philosophy. If your daughter wants to study philosophy abroad, there are a few options but the most popular, and the one highly recommended by the department itself, is Tufts-in-London, which would require her to be abroad for her full junior year.</p>
<p>Can I ask which philosophy classes or professors, if any, your daughter has had? Or what her interests in philosophy are? I would be happy to recommend some courses/professors for next semester. Daniel Dennett is offering a Language & Mind course with no prerequisites next semester, which is quite an opportunity. He is probably the most noted and notable professor Tufts has to offer; his work on consciousness and philosophy of mind is the state-of-the-art. The trade-off is that the class will be easily the largest the department has offered in some time, though Dennett will be leading smaller discussion groups himself.</p>
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<p>I took that course as a freshman. Quite an eye-opening experience and a truly interesting way to begin to think about, and understand, the intersection of philosophy, computer science, and the mind.</p>
<p>There is a science course called Chemistry 5, "From the Big Bang to Humankind that is a " an introductory-level science distribution course taught by five professors, each from a different scientific discipline, passing the educational torch from one to the other as they explore the origins of the universe, Earth, life, humanity and beyond.</p>
<p>The course, geared toward first and second year non-science majors, was first offered in the spring of 2008 and is currently in its second run. In the past year, course enrollment increased from 80 students to 120 as its popularity grew through word of mouth, according to Professor of Chemistry David Walt, who started the course." [From: Tufts</a> E-News: A Race Through Time and Space](<a href=“http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/1508/2009/03/09/ARaceThroughTimeandSpace]]Tufts”>http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/1508/2009/03/09/ARaceThroughTimeandSpace) </p>
<p>In my opinion this is a very useful class to get a great perspective from excellent lecturers on some of our key science discoveries for non-science majors.</p>