Instructor Information

Instructor	Email	Office Location & Hours
Dr. Russell Herman	hermanr@uncw.edu	ST 2007J M-F 9:30-10:30 or by appointment

General Information

Description

In this course we use Interstellar as a launching pad to explore the mysteries of the universe from its origins to the recent discoveries of gravitational waves spawned by colliding black holes, interstellar travel, and the portrayal of black holes and wormholes in film. We will read Kip Thorne's The Science of Interstellar as well as Interstellar: The Complete Screenplay, by J. Nolan and C. Nolan fill in the physics background from special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, and cosmology. How has our view of the universe changed over the last 100 years and what questions remain unanswered?

Required Text

The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne, 2014.

Interstellar: The Complete Screenplay, J. Nolan and C. Nolan, 2014.

Course Materials

Required Materials

Other readings and videos will be posted at the course website.

Optional Materials

More information will be posted on the web related to the topics we are studying. Links can be found with summaries to the material, homework assignments, additional audiovisual materials, etc. These will be accessible through the instructor's home page at people.uncw.edu/hermanr/interstellar.

Course Requirements

Participation/Attendance: You are expected to attend every class and to contribute to the class based upon your reading. After three excused absences, there will be a penalty of 2% for each absence from your total grade.

Papers: Throughout the semester you will be required to produce in-class and out of class written work. All class work will adhere to a set of guidelines that are specified at the website.

Presentation: You will prepare group presentations to be given to the class in November. Criteria for the presentations and progress reports will be posted at the course website.

Exams and Grades: There will be a one in-class exam and a final exam. The exams will cover the basic material up to the date of the exam. The tentative dates for the exams are below.

Exam Schedule

Date	Subject
Oct. 7	Exam 1
Dec 9, 11:30	Final Exam

Your final grade will be based on the following:

Item	Percentage
Assignments	40%
Paper	10%
Presentation	10%
Midterm Exam	20%
Final Exam	20%

89.5-100	A
79.5-89.5	B
69.5-79.5	C
59.5-69.5	D

This syllabus is subject to change!

Tentative Course Schedule

Classes	Topic	Reading
Aug 21	Introduction	Start Screenplay
Aug 26	The Universe as We Know It	Ch 2-3
Aug 28	Tides and Black Holes	Ch 4-5
Sep 2	Gargantua	Ch 6
Sep 4	Gravitational Slingshots	Ch 7
Sep 11	Optics and Telescopes
Sep 16	Orbits and Gravitational Lensing	Ch 8
Sep 18	Visualizing Black Holes, Quasar Jets	Ch 9
Sep 23	Disasters on Earth	Ch 11-12, Finish Screenplay
Sep 25	Interstellar Travel and Space Exploration	13, Story Boards
Sep 30	Screenplay/Story Board - discussion
Oct 2	More on Space Exploration/Review
Oct 7	Exam	Ch 1-13
Oct 14	Wormhole Physics, 2025 Nobel Prize	Ch 14-15
Oct 16	Gravitational Waves	Ch 16
Oct 21	First BH Picture, Miller’s Planet	Ch 17
Oct 23	Black Hole Vibrations, Mann’s Planet	Ch 18-19
Oct 28	Rotating Space Stations/Endurance	Ch 20
Oct 30	4^th and 5^th Dimensions	Ch 21-22
Nov 4	The Bulk and Higher Dimensions	Ch 23
Nov 6	Anomalies and the Professor’s Equation	Ch 24-25
Nov 11	Singularities and Inside Garganuta	Ch 26-28
Nov 13	The Tesseract and Touching the Past	Ch 29-30
Nov 18-25	Student Presentations
Dec 2	Epilogue	Ch 31
Dec 9, 11:30	Final Exam	Cumulative

Artificial Intelligence Use Policy

Core Principles

Learning to use AI responsibly is an essential skill. You are encouraged to explore AI tools for brainstorming, idea generation, and research assistance while maintaining academic integrity and developing critical thinking skills.

Permitted Uses

Small assignments: AI may be used for brainstorming, drafting, and iterative improvement.
Research projects: AI may assist with literature review, organizing ideas, and refining arguments.
All uses: Must be properly disclosed and attributed.

Requirements and Responsibilities

Attribution: All AI use must be acknowledged at the end of your submission. Include:

Which AI tool(s) you used and how key prompts generated useful content.
A brief description of how AI-generated material was incorporated or modified.

Verification: You are responsible for fact-checking all AI outputs. AI systems frequently generate inaccurate information and fake citations. Cross-reference all claims with reliable sources.

Quality Control: Effective AI use requires skillful prompting and critical evaluation. Minimum-effort prompts produce low-quality results that may harm your work.

Prohibited Practices

Submitting AI-generated work as your own without attribution.
Using AI-generated citations without verification.
Relying on AI for factual claims without independent confirmation.

Academic Integrity

Failure to properly attribute AI use violates university honor code policies. While AI can enhance your work, it cannot replace your critical thinking, analysis, and original contribution to the assignment.

Additional Information

Academic Honor Code

"The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is committed to the proposition that the pursuit of truth requires the presence of honesty among all involved. It is therefore the institution's stated policy that no form of dishonesty among its faculty or students will be tolerated. Although all members of the university community are encouraged to report occurrences of dishonesty, each individual is principally responsible for his or her own honesty." Student Handbook. (This includes plagiarism, bribery and cheating.)

Student Disabilities

UNCW Disability Services supplies information about disability law, documentation procedures and accommodations that can be found at http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/disablty. To obtain accommodations the student should first contact Disability Services and present their documentation to the coordinator for review and verification.

Campus Respect Compact

UNCW has instituted a Respect Compact to affirm our commitment to a civil community, characterized by mutual respect. That Compact will soon be affixed to the wall of each classroom and can be accessed at: https://uncw.edu/diversity/src.html.