Byrne Seminar: The Poetry of Astronomy
Spring 2016

Instructors Prof. Andrew Baker Department of Physics and Astronomy Office: Serin Laboratory W309 (Busch Campus) Office hours: Thursday 3:20-4:40pm (or by appointment) Phone: 848-445-8887 Email (preferred): ajbaker[at]physics.rutgers.edu Prof. Carolyn Williams Department of English Office: Murray Hall 105 (College Avenue Campus) Office hours: TBD (or by appointment) Phone: 848-932-7680 Email (preferred): carolyn.williams[at]rutgers.edu Venue Tuesday (11:30am-12:50pm) in Honors College Seminar Room S120

Textbook
No textbook is required for this course, although students who find the subject matter interesting may wish to purchase A Responsibility to Awe by the late astronomer Rebecca Elson.

Course description
Poetry inspired by the beauty of the night sky dates back more than two thousand years and is still written today. However, the progress of science means that the night sky increasingly offers knowledge as well as beauty and wonder, giving poets new subjects, concepts, and themes with which to work. This seminar will examine the poetry of astronomy — poems written on astronomical subjects, and in some cases by astronomers — from both literary and scientific perspectives, under the guidance of professors from the Departments of English and Physics & Astronomy. Each week will feature discussion of a set of astronomy-related poems with a common theme, building on an introduction to the modern understanding of relevant background material. As a capstone project, each student will conduct an interview with a research astronomer, whose contact information will be provided, and whose subject matter will inform the student's composition of a small set of original poems. The seminar will introduce students to the practice of research in both the humanities and the natural sciences and will have special appeal for those whose interests span both areas, although no familiarity with astronomy or writing poetry is required.

Grading
Your course grade will be P/NP based on two elements:

• active participation in class discussions and reading of 4-5 assigned poems per week (50%)
• final project (50%)

Schedule
The first meeting of this course will be in the second week of the semester, on January 26. For each of the first six meetings, we will spend the first half of class discussing poems and the second half of the class discussing aspects of astronomy that are relevant to the next week's assigned poems. The seventh meeting will be a practical workshop on how to write poems of your own; the eighth will be entirely devoted to the discussion of poems; and the last two meetings will be dedicated to discussion of students' poems.

CLASS	DATE	POETRY	ASTRONOMY
1	Jan 26	introduction	the night sky
2	Feb 2	the night sky	gravity
3	Feb 9	gravity	dark matter
4	Feb 16	dark matter	cosmology
5	Feb 23	cosmology	the stellar life cycle
6	Mar 1	the stellar life cycle	instruments; being a scientist
7	Mar 8	writing your own poems
8	Mar 22	instruments; being a scientist
9	Mar 29	student poems
10	Apr 5	student poems

Other items

• Absences
  If you need to miss a class, you should report your absence at this website.
• Students with disabilities
  If you have a disability, let the instructors know early in the semester so that they can make the necessary arrangements for you to have a successful learning experience. Please consult this web page for more details.
• Student wellness services
  The School of Arts and Sciences and the Rutgers University Student Assembly have requested that all course syllabi include the following information on resources to support student wellness:
  • The Just In Case Web App provides access to helpful mental health information and resources for yourself or a friend in a mental health crisis on your smartphone or tablet, and easily contacts CAPS or RUPD.
  • Rutgers Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS) (848-932-7884; 17 Senior Street in New Brunswick) is a University mental health support service that includes counseling, alcohol and other drug assistance, and psychiatric services staffed by a team of professionals within Rutgers Health Services to support students' efforts to succeed at Rutgers University. CAPS offers a variety of services that include individual therapy, group therapy and workshops, crisis intervention, referral to specialists in the community and consultation, and collaboration with campus partners.
  • The Office for Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance (VPVA) (848-932-1181; 3 Bartlett Street in New Brunswick) provides confidential crisis intervention, counseling, and advocacy for victims of sexual and relationship violence and stalking to students, staff, and faculty.N Staff can be reached by phone during office hours when the university; advocates can be reached by phone after hours.
  • The Office of Disability Services (848-445-6800; Lucy Stone Hall, Suite A145, Livingston Campus, 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue in Piscataway) works with students with documented disabilities to determine eligibility for reasonable accommodations, facilitates and coordinates those accommodations when applicable, and lastly engages with the Rutgers community at large to provide and connect students to appropriate resources.
  • Scarlet Listeners (732-247-5555) is a free and confidential peer counseling and referral hotline, providing a comforting and supportive safe space.