III. Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster (Students must
take at least 3 of the 9 required hours at UNCW. It a
student can demonstration completion of 3-6 hours in
the cluster, then a portion of the total 9 required hours
can be waived.)
A Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster is a trio of thematically-related courses from University
Studies and departmental majors that allows students to investigate a common theme through
multiple disciplinary lenses. Through the completion of a cluster, students will develop their
critical thinking skills by integrating the methods and findings specific to each disciplinary
perspective. Cross-disciplinary study equips students with the skills to seek creative solutions to
difficulties they will encounter when dealing with the complex problems that shape our modern
world.
At least 9 credit hours and three courses are required. All courses are eligible for multiple
counting. Students who complete a minor, a second major, or a University Studies Advisory
Committee-approved concentration in their major are exempt from the cluster requirement.
Students will declare the cluster theme online in mySeaport (Major Declaration/Curricular
Updates), and will select courses with at least two different departmental prefixes from one of
the following clusters:
Ancient Thought and Culture
The study of ancient Western thought and culture is a critical part of the human intellectual,
cultural and historical heritage, both for Western countries formed by it and for all of modern
global culture that has been influenced by it.
The study of Western art, history, literature, philosophy and religion is highly appropriate for
integrative disciplinary studies, which can only enhance one another. The study of ancient
Athens is at once the study of the Parthenon, of Pericles and the history of the Peloponnesian
War, of Socratic dialogue, of tragic and comic drama, and of the beginning of scientific and
philosophical thought. The study of the Roman Empire and of medieval European culture is at
once a study of art, politics, literature, philosophy and religion that all interact and mutually
influence one another.
In content and in form, there are excellent reasons for encouraging students to study ancient thought
and culture as a unique historical period from the vantage point of different humanities disciplines.

ENG 209 - Classical Literature in Translation: Topics

ENG 210 - Mythology

ENG 388 - Rhetorical Theory to 1900


HST 101 - Western Civilization I


PAR 230 - Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Climate Change and Society
The complex interactions between human societies and
the environment has not only affected every ecosystem on Earth, but also molded the
evolution of human society through time. With an ever increasing pool of evidence
indicating that significant anthropogenic climate change is highly likely in the near
future, it is important that we fully understand the potential impacts of such changes on
natural ecosystems and society. Such complex interactions at the global scale are well
suited as a topic in a thematic transdisciplinary cluster, as the most pressing and salient
questions are interdisciplinary. For example, how have humans affected the world’s
climate and ecosystems? How do anthropogenic impacts on climate change compare to
natural climate variability? What impacts might climate change have on natural
ecosystems and human societies? Are complex human societies capable of adapting to
significant climate change? What is the most effective means of communicating complex
climate change data to the general public? Here we propose a group of courses especially
well-suited to address these complex questions from a variety of perspectives. Exposure
to a combination of the physical and social sciences specifically addressing these
questions is the only meaningful way to grasp the complex past and future interactions
between humans and the climate system.

ANT 312 - Collapse. The Fall of Complex Civilizations


GGY 140 - Introduction to Human Geography

GGY 230 - Introduction to Weather and Climate

GGY 333 - Applied Climatology

GGY 340 - Population, Resources, and the Environment

GGY 436 - Ice Age Earth


GLY 250 - Coasts and Society

GLY 350 - Advanced Oceanography

GLY 420 - Global Climate Change


PLS 209 - Environmental Politics
Coastal Health and Environment
This Coastal Health cluster is designed to focus on the interplay between the environment and
human health, and more specifically, on maintaining human health in a coastal environment.
Because of the interaction between humans and their physical and social environments, the
quality of these environments impact health. As a consequence, environment and health are
interrelated. When analyzing relationships between environment and health, it is of vital
importance to consider a broader definition of environment, which includes not only the quality
of the air, water and ground, but also, indoor air quality, food and the living, working and social
environments. It is also important to understand the growing body of scientific evidence
revealing that the interaction of health and the environment is reciprocal - that is, the
environment can affect human health and that human health care can affect the environment.
Due to the complexity of this reciprocal relationship, examination must occur from a multidisciplinary, ecological, and multiple-system approach. One example is the social-ecological
model of health. The first level of analysis focuses upon individual biology and other personal
characteristics, such as age, education, income, and health history. The second level focuses on
relationship, which includes an individual’s social circle, such as friends, partners, and family
members, all of whom influence human behavior and contribute to life experiences. The third
level, community/environment, explores the characteristics of the physical settings in which
people have social relationships, such as schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods, and examines
how these settings affect health. Finally, the fourth level looks at the broad societal factors that
favor or impair health. Examples include cultural and social norms and the health, economic,
educational, and social policies that help to create, maintain, or lessen socioeconomic
inequalities among groups (CDC, 2007; Krug et al., 2002). Insights from Environmental Science,
Philosophy, and Biology enhance this model, creating a multi-disciplinary approach to the issues
at hand. Finally, we should also consider philosophical and artistic treatments of the reciprocal
interactions between humans and the environment as part of human health.
There are many problems needing creative solutions that students can investigate through a
multidisciplinary frame. A multidisciplinary approach can be taken to investigate related
questions, such as how can coastal communities figure out how to reap the economic benefits of
coastal resources while maintaining health and quality of life for humans? And, how does the
coastal environment impact personal health influences such as body image, risk factors for skin
cancer, peer pressure, and the generational gap between collage age students and our retirement
and aging population? When understanding and addressing health and human services from the
context of the coastal region, “place” is important to achieving balance.

HEA 207 - Nutrition and Behavior
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NSG 405 - Community Health Nursing
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PED 345 - Childhood Obesity
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PSY 352 - Health Psychology


REC 265 - Leisure and Society
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REC 451 - Travel and Tourism


SWK 235 - Introduction to Social Work and the Social Welfare System

SWK 335 - Social Welfare Policies
Evolution
The concept of evolution is foundational to many fields of science, including
anthropology, biology, geology, paleontology, and psychology. Evolution is a scientific
concept, which means it addresses questions about the natural world through a process of
testing hypotheses with empirical evidence. But, because science is limited to explaining
natural phenomena using empirical evidence, it cannot provide religious, philosophical, or
ultimate explanations for life. Humanities-based views on evolution will allow students to
consider cultural/societal implications of evolution, address moral and ethical dimensions of
their decisions, and explore questions of ultimate purpose and meaning that are beyond the
scope of science. This cluster will allow students to study the evolution of life from the
perspective of different scientific disciplines, as well as to think about its significance in
relation to human life and culture, including our philosophical, religious, historical, artistic
and literary modes of reflection. An evolution cluster of courses can be expected to stimulate
students’ abilities to recognize multiple viewpoints concerning evolution and to consider how
and to what extent these perspectives complement or compete with one another.

ANT 210 - Physical Anthropology
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ANT 320 - Human Origins
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ANT 322 - Primate Biology & Behavior
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ANT 324 - Human Biological Variation
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ANT 328 - Bioarchaeology


BIO 105 - Concepts of Modern Biology
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BIO 202 - Principles of Biology: Biodiversity
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BIO 430 - Evolutionary Biology

BIO 475 - Plant Taxonomy


GLY 132 - The Earth Through Time

GLY 135 - Prehistoric Life

GLY 337 - Invertebrate Paleontology


PSY 257 - Evolutionary Psychology

PSY 457 - Animal Behavior
Foundations for Systems Thinking
We all realize that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Why is this, and how do parts of
systems fit together? Understanding of the mechanisms that generate whole-system level,
emergent patterns is the focus of the
Foundations in Systems Thinking Cluster. The world around us is fundamentally hierarchical –
systems within systems, nested like matryoshka dolls – from human societies that build from
individual to family, neighborhood, community, and nation, to the natural world, which builds
from organism to population, community, and ecosystem. All such systems have internal
feedbacks and dynamics (e.g., supply and demand, competition for resources) that can produce
emergent properties difficult to predict by examining a single level of organization (e.g.,
economic globalization, altruistic social networks). Groundbreaking advances in any one
discipline have often occurred when investigators apply systems thinking from a different
discipline. By understanding that systems are nested hierarchies and bringing insights from
different disciplines to bear on new problems, students can learn how to look to lower levels of
organization for mechanistic processes and to higher levels for other kinds of constraints on
system dynamics and organization.

BIO 105 - Concepts of Modern Biology
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BIO 201 - Principles of Biology: Cells
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BIO 345 - Animal Physiology

BIO 366 - Ecology


COM 326 - Communication and the Family

COM 424 - Applying Coordinated Management of Meaning to the World Around Us


ECN 221 - Principles of Economics-Micro

ECN 222 - Principles of Economics-Macro

ECN 250 - Capitalism and the Global Market


EXS 216 - Human Anatomy and Physiology I

EXS 217 - Human Anatomy and Physiology II


OPS 370 - Principles of Operations Management
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OPS 377 - International Operations Management


RTH 468 - Program Planning and Evaluation in Recreation Therapy
Gender and Social Justice
In recent years, much inquiry and activism have focused on the implications of gender difference in
practices of social justice worldwide. Most often, we hear about gender difference in practices of social
justice in the social or political context, such as new legislation or policies denying or providing retribution
in class action litigation.
Courses included here enable students to further explore the interconnectivity of gender (in)equality and
social justice from multiple perspectives, addressing content from a variety of disciplines. Topics include,
but are not limited to: gender and global development strategies or macroeconomic policies; access to
education; writing memoirs and manifestos; historical movements for gender equality; religions and their
traditions and contemporary practices; access to medical and nutritional aide; pay equity; systems of
protection and justice; value systems, civil rights, media representation, and rights to free expression.

CRM 315 - Victimology

CRM 370 - Minorities, Crime and Criminal Justice Policy


SOC 250 - Issues in Social Justice

SOC 350 - Gender and Society


WGS 210 - Introduction to Women's Studies
Global Diversity
This cluster will allow students to investigate global diversity in order
to understand better the importance and implication of cultural and religious diversity.
Students will consider questions such as: What role does global diversity play in
encouraging different perspectives and fostering creativity and innovation? How does one
navigate between international, cultural, and religious differences? Issues and topics
explored in this cluster could include diasporic traditions, multiculturalism, cultural
diversity, and religious pluralism.

ANT 301 - Shamanism,Witchcraft & Cults


COM 344 - Intercultural Communication


ENG 226 - World Literature Since 1600
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ENG 341 - Postcolonial and Third World Literature

ENG 359 - World Indigenous Literatures and Film


FNA 101 - Cultures of the World Through Music and Dance


HEA 320 - Foundations in Global Health


HST 104 - Introduction to Global History Since 1848

HST 367 - History of Colonial Latin America


INT 105 - Introduction to International Studies

INT 200 - Global Capitalism and its Discontents


PAR 230 - Judaism, Christianity and Islam

PAR 232 - Asian Religions


PED 206 - Global Dance and Culture

PED 235 - Foundations of Health and Physical Education

PED 350 - Motor Behavior


REC 265 - Leisure and Society

REC 451 - Travel and Tourism

REC 494 - Study Abroad in Recreation, Sport Leadership and Tourism Management


SOC 240 - Individuals and Societies in a Global World
Human Behavior
The purpose of this cluster on “Human Behavior” is to help students recognize multiple competing and
complementary theoretical perspectives on human behavior from the different academic disciplines. By
examining research and theories developed in each diverse field, students will recognize that these
different approaches, methods of analysis, and theories give them different insights into why people
behave the way they do, what gets classified as “normal” versus “aberrant” behaviors, and how students
can best approach the many individual and social challenges facing them in the world.
Whether focusing on individuals’ bodies and psyches, or on more comprehensive analysis of group
communication, organizational structures, and social and cultural systems, or on the intersection of these
different system levels, diverse disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, and professional programs
have developed tools and approaches to conduct research to predict human behavior and design
interventions to address individual and social needs. This cluster will prepare students for a critical,
thoughtful engagement with the challenges that face individuals, families, communities, organizations,
and larger social structures.

COM 250 - Introduction to Political Communication

COM 302 - Applied Qualitative Research
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COM 326 - Communication and the Family
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CRM 255 - Criminology
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INT 200 - Global Capitalism and its Discontents
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
PSY 105 - General Psychology
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
SOC 105 - Introduction to Sociology
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SOC 433 - Sociology of Mental Illness
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
SWK 235 - Introduction to Social Work and the Social Welfare System

SWK 320 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment I
Human Rights
Globalization has drawn much attention to and roused important debates about human rights: protections,
privileges, powers, and access to resources to which people everywhere are justly entitled by virtue of
being human. Discussions and controversies have proliferated since the post-World War II UN
Declaration on Human Rights and the numerous subsequent declarations. While there are mechanisms
in place to put pressure upon states that violate human rights, the difficulties of implementing such
measures and ensuring human rights protections are significant. At the same time, globalized
communication and exchanges of ideas have fostered a multitude of popular social movements aimed at
drawing attention to human rights abuses and organizing resistance against the forces, processes, and
institutions, as well as the states, that create them.
This cluster provides students with a comprehensive understanding of human rights through an integrated
cross-disciplinary survey. The theme of human rights will be approached through different theoretical and
critical viewpoints, including but not limited to, anthropological, philosophical, historical, and humanistic
perspectives. Through courses offered across a range of programs, students will explore the diversity of
the world’s human rights issues related to: genocide, refugees and displaced people, tribal sovereignty,
cultural survival, social justice, labor and working conditions, violence against women, human trafficking,
child welfare, health and access to medical care, immigration and citizenship status, transnational
migration flows, political oppression and state use of violence, environmental justice, environmental
degradation, and equitable access to natural resources. By learning about local and global strategies and
solutions to these problems, students will be able to examine more critically and engage more
concertedly the world in which they live.

ANT 305 - North American Indians

ANT 317 - Social Issues in Latin America
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ANT 327 - Globalization & Culture Change
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ANT 330 - The Immigrant Experience
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ANT 346 - Medical Anthropology


PAR 369 - The Philosophy of Power
Immigration
The topic of immigration, or the migration of people from one location to
another, has received a lot of attention in the United States and throughout the world in
the last decade. Most often, we hear about immigration within a political context - new
legislation or policies denying or providing some rights to immigrants. This
interdisciplinary thematic cluster on immigration will provide students the opportunity to
approach this broad topic from many viewpoints and disciplines. Our hope is that after
completing this cluster, students will be prepared to critically analyze the many sides of
the immigration issue, both domestically and internationally, while proposing and
analyzing solutions to the ‘immigration problem,’ taking into account the many views
introduced to them in the cluster courses.

ANT 316 - Exploring World Cultures
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ANT 327 - Globalization & Culture Change
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ANT 330 - The Immigrant Experience
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ENG 344 - Latino Voices in American Literature


FRH 421 - French Immigrant Narratives


HST 106 - United States from 1865 to Present

HST 340 - Race, Gender, and Citizenship


INT 105 - Introduction to International Studies


SOC 325 - Racial and Ethnic Group Relations


SPN 323 - Introduction to US Latino Literature and Culture

SPN 490 - Service Learning and Research
Judaism and the Jewish People
Over the course of 3000 years, the Jews have made their way from their historic homeland in
Israel to distant lands. Their customs and values have kept evolving to meet the needs of their
new environments. The Jews have always developed dynamic and reciprocal relationships with
the societies that have surrounded them—relationships that have fundamentally transformed the
practice of Judaism and the landscape of Jewish culture. But of equal significance is the impact
the Jews have had on their non-Jewish neighbors. From Christianity and Islam to capitalism and
communism, from European philosophy to American humor and Soviet jazz music, the Jews
have bequeathed a rich heritage to humanity. To experience Jewish culture in all its facets is to
understand better the world in which we live.

HST 207 - Jewish History to 1492

HST 208 - Jewish History from 1492 to the Present

HST 385 - Zionism and Israel


PAR 230 - Judaism, Christianity and Islam

PAR 362 - Archaeology of Ancient Israel

PAR 376 - Judaism
Linguistics
The courses in this cluster will give students opportunities to analyze language from different
perspectives. A multitude of questions inform these perspectives, including: how does history play a part
in shaping language change? What cultural forces give one language variety prestige over others? What
differences exist between first and second language acquisition? After completing this cluster on
linguistics, students will be able to look at language as a whole and languages in particular through both
scientific and social lenses. They will gain an insight into how human language functions and how it
differs across geographic, social, temporal and contextual frames.

ANT 208 - Language & Culture


FRH 308 - French Linguistics


GER 322 - History of the German Language


SPN 307 - Phonetics

SPN 308 - Hispanic Linguistics

SPN 496 - Seminar in Hispanic Linguistics
Modeling
A model can be thought of as an abstract, non-unique, description of a natural
system that captures its features essential for addressing the modeling objectives. Nearly
every discipline creates models that mimic the “real world” and enable scholars to make
predictions and develop understanding crucial to specific fields of study. Models often
simplify to clarify, but students do not often fully appreciate that they are using a model
that contains simplifying assumptions. Further, despite encountering models across
disciplines, many students do not at first see the connections between how different
disciplines develop and define them. This cluster of courses emphasizes the common
aspects of models used in a variety of disciplines. By taking these courses, students will
demonstrate an understanding of the common elements, important limitations, and
powerful predictive properties that models provide. And students will compare and
contrast these models as a way to assess their applicability across a range of contexts.

ANT 105 - Introduction to Anthropology

ANT 207 - Archaeology


BIO 201 - Principles of Biology: Cells

BIO 366 - Ecology


CHM 101 - General Chemistry I


CSC 112 - Introduction to Computer Programming

CSC 131 - Introduction to Computer Science


EVS 195 - Introduction to Environmental Studies


MAT 101 - Mathematics for Liberal Arts: A Contemporary Approach

MAT 151 - Basic Calculus with Applications I

MAT 152 - Basic Calculus with Applications II

MAT 161 - Calculus with Analytical Geometry I

MAT 162 - Calculus with Analytical Geometry II


NSG 415 - Research in Nursing


PHY 335 - Modern Physics


PSY 105 - General Psychology

PSY 256 - Brain and Behavior