Biology For Future Presidents

Abstract

I am developing a course that would describe the basic principles of biology to nonscience majors. The reason I feel so strongly about this is that there are frequently biological subjects in the popular press and in the news, e.g., H1N1, HIV, GMOs, the world food problem, nutrition, etc. These are topics that usually require some kind of national policy or law before rules can be approved. Our problem at the university level is that such national laws and rules are generally made by non-scientists. While they may get advice from scientists, the law-makers are the ones that pass the final vote. It has always worried me that these legislators do not really understand the subject with which they are dealing.

It is unfortunately true that students in the humanities and social sciences are generally afraid of science courses. Even courses that are for non-majors are still scary to these undergraduate students because they are always quite certain that they are surrounded by physics and mathematics majors, engineers, and so on. It is not that these students are not bright; they are. But, they generally feel that they cannot be competitive in science courses with bonafide science majors. So the course in which I am most interested is one that that would serve this population. I think it is a course that is needed in American universities, as well as in Taiwan.