A Sample of Past Electives
Electives will be recommended to students in order to stay on track for the transition to the University of Delaware in January.
ANTH-110
Culture & Human
Experience
People around the world create and use systems of symbols to express their identities as members of social
groups. This course draws on diverse life-cycle experiences in tribal, state-level, and post-colonial societies to
explore ways that both tradition and contact with other cultures contribute to the cultural pluralism of the
contemporary world.
ANTH-215
Sex, Gender,
& Culture
How economic systems, social structures, and values construct and redefine biological distinctions between
women and men. Includes gender in egalitarian societies; origins and consequences of patriarchy; gay and lesbian
cultures; gender, politics, and social change. Case studies from tribal, state-level, and post-colonial contexts.
ARTH-105
Art: The Historical
Experience
ARTS-100
The Studio Experience
ARTS-205
Artist’s Perspective:
Drawing
ARTS-210
Artist’s Perspective:
Painting
BIO-110
General Biology 1 and
Lab
CHEM-100
The Molecular World
CHEM-110
General Chemistry 1 and
Law
An introduction to works of art in historical context. Western art from prehistory to the present with in-depth
study of such major architectural monuments as the Parthenon, Chartres Cathedral, St. Peter's in Rome, and
such artists as Michelangelo, Raphael, El Greco, Gentileschi, Rembrandt, the French Impressionists, and Picasso.
This beginning studio course introduces students to painting, drawing, sculpture, and design combined with
visual literacy. The course focuses on the interrelationship of hand, eye, and mind to create informed works of
art that engage larger critical, formal, or cultural dialogues and relate basic visual language to analytic and creative
processes of the artist.
This introductory drawing course examines observation as a tool of discovery. Students explore traditional and
conceptual notions of looking and experiment with different materials, techniques, and practices in order to
examine visual perception. The course investigates drawing as a two-dimensional and three-dimensional medium.
This introductory painting course utilizes surface, color, and composition as well as technical procedures to
introduce students to formal, conceptual, and social issues inherent in painting. These concepts may be explored
through the use of models, still life, and landscape. Students learn the language of painting and its context in
contemporary art.
An in-depth introduction and exploration of the study of life from atoms, molecules, and organelles to the
cellular levels of organization. Emphasis on cell structure and function, energetics and metabolism, the gene,
molecular genetics, and evolution. The laboratory component introduces the scientific method and
experimentation through the study of microbes, plants and animals.
A general introduction to chemistry leading to biochemistry and the chemistry of life. Study of the composition
of materials, their structures and properties, related energy conversions, and the use of molecular genetic
information. Questions of scientific inquiry and the scientific method in cultural and historical contexts are
considered. Prerequisite: completion of the University Mathematics Requirement, or concurrent enrollment in
MATH-170 or MATH-211 or STAT-202
A general introduction to chemistry: the scientific method; atomic structure; stoichiometry and chemical
reactions; heat changes; electronic structure of atoms; molecular geometry; and liquid solid, gas, and solution
chemistry. Provides a sound basis in concepts, vocabulary, and analytical problem solving. Related laboratory
work covers the scientific method, measurements using scientific apparatuses, collection and manipulation of
data, error analysis, and illustration of scientific principles. Usually offered every term. Prerequisite: completion
of the University Mathematics Requirement, or concurrent enrollment in MATH-170 or MATH-211 or STAT202.
COMM-100
Understanding Media
Building on students' individual and collective experiences of mass media (print, film, radio, television, and digital
media), this course analyzes American media institutions: their development and social role; the economic and
political constraints they face; and their effect on us as a society and as individuals.
COMM-105
Visual Literacy
This course introduces students to ways of understanding visual images in a variety of contexts, including art,
photography, film, and performing arts. Students learn about aesthetics, as well as the production aspects of
visual images; discover intuitive dimensions of seeing; and analyze the influence of culture on visual symbols and
communication. Hands-on learning in blog development, photography, and video production puts theory into
action.
COMM-270
How News Media
Shaped History
The impact that the print and broadcast news media have had on America. The role and value of a free press,
always powerful and usually responsible. How radical writers helped start the American Revolution to how
today's reporters influence contemporary political events.
ECON-100
Macroeconomics
ECON-200
Microeconomics
FREN- 222
French, Intermediate I
GERM- 132
Elementary German
GOVT-110
Politics in the
US
GOVT-130
Comparative
Politics
Introduction to the basic principles of aggregate economic analysis. Includes measurement and determinants of
national income, unemployment, inflation, economic growth, and business cycles. Topics also include historical
perspectives, alternative approaches to economics, and current issues and controversies.
Introduction to the analysis of markets and the behavior of different kinds of economic agents. Covers supply
and demand, behavior of consumers and firms, competitive markets versus monopoly or oligopoly, income
distribution, discrimination, and international trade.
Refinement of basic language skills in a cultural context. Expansion of vocabulary and grammatical structures
and further development of communicative skills. Content focuses on cultural patterns in the French-speaking
world. Usually offered every term. Prerequisite: FREN-123 or equivalent.
Prepares students to functions in everyday situations in the German-speaking world. Focuses on the acquisition
of basic vocabulary and grammatical structures in culturally authentic contexts through speaking, reading,
writing, and listening comprehension. One class per week emphasizes oral communication. Designed for
students with no prior experience with German.
Study of major philosophical concepts that shaped government in the United States combined with an analysis of
contemporary political institutions and behavior, focusing on the American governmental system. Four-credit
sections include Washington laboratory experiences. Note: students may not receive credit for both GOVT-110
and GOVT-120.
How different societies, both Western and non-Western, have approached the political problems of order and
responsiveness. The relationships, in a cross-cultural perspective, between the individual and the state; social and
economic processes; culture and behavior.
HIST-288
Oliver Stone’s America
Director Oliver Stone's influence on popular views of recent U.S. history has raised important questions about
artistic license, the nature and uses of historical evidence, and the shaping of popular historical consciousness.
This course addresses these issues while assessing both scholarly opinion and popular beliefs about the Kennedy
assassination, the Vietnam War and antiwar movement, the 1960s counterculture, Watergate, U.S. policy in
Central America, the 1980s capitalistic culture, and 9/11 and the presidency of George W. Bush.
JLC-104
Introduction to Systems
of Justice
An overview of the formal mechanisms of social control as manifested by the components of the criminal justice
system (legislatures, planning agencies, law enforcement, courts, and corrections), civil justice systems, and such
other mechanisms as civil commitment. Alternatives to formal processing including diversion, pretrial screening
and dispute-settlement programs.
JLC-110
Western Legal
Traditions
From the biblical era to the American experiment, the Western legal tradition encompasses primitive, divine,
natural, canon, secular, and common law. This course examines the key legal documents and issues of the
tradition including the Code of Hammurabi, the Ten Commandments, the trials of Socrates and Jesus, the
Magna Carta, the Rule of Law, and Common law.
JLC-200
Deprivation of Liberty
Analysis of the values, costs, and logic of the manners in which classes of people (e.g., criminals, drug abusers,
the mentally ill) are defined as dangerous; analysis of the specific means of limiting their ability to harm others,
the public order, or themselves. Emphasis on imprisonment, institutionalization, probation, capital punishment,
and enforced treatment.
JLC-225
American Legal Culture
The law has become one of the most important regulators in American culture. How did this happen? This
course explores the transformation of American legal culture from the colonial era to the present, considering
such issues as the challenges of crime, the Cold War and civil rights, the rise of the surveillance state, and images
of law in popular culture.
LIT-107
Creative Writing across
Genres
This course guides students into the world of creative communication through generative writing assignments,
in-class critiques, writing workshops, and writerly appreciation of literary texts. Students explore multiple genres
of writing including fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, in preparation for upper-level creative writing
workshops
LIT-121
Jane Austen and Her
World
This course explores the works of Jane Austen in the literary and cultural contexts of the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries. Throughout the semester, the class undertakes close readings of Austen's Northanger
Abbey; Sense and Sensibility; Mansfield Park; Persuasion; and her unfinished novel Sanditon. Austen adaptations
and paratexts including the 1995 Simon Langton/Andrew Davies mini-series of Pride and Prejudice; Helen
Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996); Patricia Rozema's 1999 film adaptation of Mansfield Park; and Austen
fan fictions are also discussed. Situating Austen's works within the turbulent political and social shifts of her
period, topics including gender and the novel; the public and private spheres; sensibility and sexuality; empire,
war, and slavery; and revolution and social change are considered. Also interrogated is Austen's status as a
'hypercanonical' author, a figure whose life and works are subject to insatiable academic and popular enthusiasm,
and the various critical approaches through which her works have been considered.
LIT-146
Critical Approach to the
Cinema
Analysis of film content and style through screenings and substantial readings in aesthetic theory and film
history. Also considers social issues, cultural artifacts, and forms of artistic expression.
MATH-150/151
Finite Mathematics
Review of algebra, sets, linear equations and inequalities, nonlinear inequalities, interest problems, systems if
linear equations, functions and graphs, and elementary data analysis. Prerequisite: three years of high school
mathematics or equivalent. Note: For students who need extra work on mathematical skills. No credit toward
mathematics major. Students may not receive credit for more than one course numbered MATH-15x.
MATH-154
Great Ideas in
Mathematics
This course explores a sample of beautiful branches of modern mathematics, concentrating on conceptual
underpinnings rather than technical aspects. Includes study of infinity, number theory, fractals, and modern
geometry, among other mathematical ideas. The course focuses on verbal and written communication skills and
problem solving. Prerequisite: three years of high school mathematics or equivalent. Note: No credit toward
mathematics major. Students may not receive credit for more than one course numbered MATH-15x.
MATH-170
Pre-Calculus
Fundamentals of algebraic, logarithmic, exponential, and trigonometric functions. Prerequisite: three years of
high school mathematics, or MATH-15x, or permission of department.
MATH-211
Applied Calculus I
MATH-221
Calculus I
PERF-110
Understanding Music
PERF-115
Theater: Prin Play &
Performance
PERF-200
Dance as an Art Form
PHIL-105
Western Philosophy
Functions, differentiation, and integration. Applications to several areas, especially business. Prerequisite:
MATH-160 or MATH-170, or four years of high school mathematics.
Real number coordinate systems; functions; limits and continuity; differentiation and applications; trigonometric
functions; indefinite and definite integration and applications; fundamental theorem of integral calculus.
Prerequisite: MATH-170 or four years of high school mathematics. Note: Students may not receive credit toward
a degree for both MATH-221 and MATH-211.
An introduction to musical language through listening and comprehension. The fundamentals of acoustics,
melody, harmony, form, texture, and color in a wide range of music from ancient and global music to European
concert music, jazz, blues, and popular music. Includes listening and concert attendance requirements.
Provides an overview of the principles of drama from the ancient Greeks to contemporary society. The class
draws on theatre history and social context, the reading of great literature, critical analyses, and artistic
exploration to culminate in the experience which is the essential element of the art itself - performance.
A survey of dance as an artistic, social, and cultural form. Students discover the diverse ways dance represents
and reflects society's experiences and values. Through lectures, readings, written work, performances, movement
labs, and choreography/performance assignments students develop an understanding of aesthetics, function, and
expression in dance.
A historical introduction to the Western philosophical tradition. Students closely examine classic and
contemporary texts on the nature of reality, truth, morality, goodness, and justice; the possibility of knowledge;
faith, reason, and the existence of God; and the issue of freedom and determinism.
PHYS-110
Principles of Physics I
PSYC-105
Understand Human
Behavior
PSYC-115 & PSYC-116
Psyc as a Natural
Science & Lab
The first course in a calculus-based, two-semester sequence in general physics, including weekly laboratory.
Includes the study of motion and forces, Newton's Laws, momentum, energy, gravitation, fluids, properties of
matter, and thermodynamics. Note: PHYS-110/210 generally satisfy requirements of medical and dental schools.
Prerequisite: MATH-221 (may be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor.
Survey of the social bases of behavior and the individual foundations of group and social behavior. This course
emphasizes the concepts and methodologies of psychology in such areas as social development, personality,
social psychology, and abnormal behavior, as well as the interaction between the individual and social
institutions.
Through lectures and discussion, students are introduced to the many experimental questions addressed in
psychology, e.g., environmental and genetic factors in behavior, biological bases of behavior, sensations and
perception, conditioning and learning, memory and cognition, and drug use and abuse, as well as to the specific
methods used in psychological research and the general research approaches used in science. Prerequisite:
completion of the University Mathematics Requirement or concurrent enrollment in a mathematics or statistics
course that has MATH-15x Finite Mathematics as a prerequisite. Co-requisite: PSYC-116.
Through laboratory experiments and simulations, students are exposed to the various techniques, procedures,
and designs used in the study of behavior. Usually offered every term. Prerequisite: completion of the University
Mathematics Requirement or concurrent enrollment in a mathematics or statistics course that has MATH-15x
Finite Mathematics as a prerequisite. Co-requisite: PSYC-115.
PSYC-220
The Senses
PSYC-235
Theories of Personality
RELG-105
Religious Heritage of
the West
RELG-185
Religious Heritage of
Asia
SISU-140
Cross-Cultural
Communications
SOCY-150
Global Sociology
SOCY-225
Arab Societies
SPAN-152
Spanish, Elementary I
An introductory discussion of why things appear as they do. Investigation of our perceptual experiences--their
origins, refinements, interpretations, and applications. Discussion of scientific theory and research on the senses.
Prerequisite: 100-level General Education Foundational Area 5 course.
Students explore and critically compare four major approaches to understanding uniqueness in human behavior,
emotion, and thought: holistic, dynamic, learning, and trait/biological. Class debates, exercises, and a paper help
students use these theories to understand their own and others' personalities. Usually offered every term.
Prerequisite: PSYC-105.
The contribution of religion to Western civilization. The eastern Mediterranean roots of Western religions, the
emergence of Christianity in the Greco-Roman world, and the rise of Islam. The mature religious synthesis of
Medieval Europe. Modern secularism's challenge to this tradition
Introduces methods of studying religion and places religious traditions in comparative relief. Surveys the basic
features of the major religions of Asia, including Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism, and explains how these
traditions shape Asian cultures and societies
Examines the impact of culture on communication, perception, thought patterns, values, and beliefs in order to
better understand the behavior of individuals within different societies. Specific concerns include the dynamics
of verbal and nonverbal communication; the relationship between dominant cultures and subcultures; ethnic,
racial, class and other forms of diversity within countries and organizations; third-culture and multicultural
persons; and the dynamics of cross-cultural adjustment. May be taken A-F only
An introduction to sociology that focuses on the process of global social change as a critical factor in
understanding contemporary societies. It emphasizes macrosociology (the study of large organizations and whole
societies) and the creation of today's global society, including similarities and differences within it. Two major
themes - modernization and globalization - are emphasized and their implications for individuals, groups,
communities, societies, and governments are explored.
This course introduces students to the twenty-two nations of the Arab world. Themes covered include popular
images in the media, politics, economics, religion, and gender and sexuality. Comparisons between countries,
both macro and micro, are emphasized throughout the course.
Prepares students to function in everyday situations in the Hispanic world. Focuses on the acquisition of basic
vocabulary and grammatical structures in culturally authentic contexts through speaking, reading, writing, and
listening comprehension. Designed for students with no prior experience with Spanish.
SPAN-252
Spanish, Intermediate I
SPAN-352
Spanish Convers &
Comp I
SPAN-353
Spanish Covers & Comp
II
STAT-202
Basic Statistics
Refinement of basic language skills in a cultural context. Expansion of vocabulary and grammatical structures
and further development of communicative skills. Content focuses on cultural patterns in the Hispanic world.
Prerequisite: SPAN-153 or equivalent.
Promotes accurate and fluent writing and speaking of advanced Spanish in culturally authentic contexts. Focuses
on Spain's history, geography, economy, politics, society, and culture. Prerequisite: SPAN-253 or equivalent.
Further develops content presented in SPAN-352. Promotes advanced written and oral skills in various genres,
from narrative texts to critical reviews. A selection of articles and films promotes active discussion of Latin
America's changing sociocultural identity form colonial times to globalization. Usually offered every term.
Prerequisite: SPAN-352 or equivalent
Data presentation, display, and summary, averages, dispersion, simple linear regression, and correlation,
probability, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and tests of significance. Use of statistical software both
to analyze real data and to demonstrate and explore concepts. Usually offered every term. Prerequisite: MATH15x or higher, or permission of department.