En Route To Engineering: Nabokov, Lepidoptera, Dynamics

Developed to help attract underrepresented groups, particularly women, to engineering and science, this first-year seminar introduces students to research, ‘just-in-time’ learning, and the application of their newly gained scientific knowledge to literature, as they seek answers to the question: To what extent did Nabokov’s expertise in Lepidoptera infuse his literary works? In doing so, they examine Nabokov—writer and Nabokov—lepidopterist. Students experience the rewards of speaking a scientific language and the inventiveness that can emanate from its application. In seeing how skillfully Nabokov weaves his art with his science, students may consider engineering, mathematics, and science as complementary to their life and learning aspirations, rather than as unrelated disciplines.