New and Special Topics Courses
BIO 221 Mammalian Anatomy Comparative anatomy with special attention to the structure and function of mammalian systems and special references to humans. Intensive laboratory work involves dissections and demonstrations using the cat as a model. Lecture and lab combined in two, 3‐hour sessions per week. 4 credits. BIO 390 ST: Neurobiology An examination of the development and functioning of the mammalian nervous system. The course covers neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, development of the nervous system, learning and memory, and sensory and motor systems. Laboratory work includes dissection and cell culture. Prerequisite: BIO 111, 113, 112, 114. 4 credits. CSC 131 Intro to Programming (w/Java) Foundational aspects of computer programming. Algorithms and data; control structures; the design of small programs. Class and object basics. Uses the Java programming language. 3 credits. DCOM 100 Web Authoring Lab This practical hands‐on lab teaches how to use the authoring software Dreamweaver and HTML to create simple web pages and page layouts. Students will gain facility using web authoring software (Dreamweaver) and will be able to read and write effective, simple HTML code. It is a one day per week, one hour lab that will emphasize completing daily assignments, in class work, and quizzes. Students can, if they demonstrate adequate proficiency in the subject matter, have the course waived by the DCOM director. DCOM 130 Principles of Informat. Design A broad survey of the curriculum making up the Digital Communications major. This includes the authoring of content (text, visual, aural); designing presentations for that content; understanding the processes, components; and distribution of information technology; introducing the legal and ethical environments, and comprehending the integrative nature of design, business, communication, and technology in society's culture. 3 credits. DCOM 290 ST: Photography for Communications The primary focus of this course is a broad survey of communications‐oriented digital photography. Topics would include visual communications, narrative photography, photojournalism, and promotional photography. This basic communications‐oriented photography class focuses on skills useful for design, journalism, and communications related projects. Secondary topics include introductory photographic terms and skills, vantage point, proximity, composition, and exposure. Students must provide their own digital cameras capable of “manual mode.” No prior experience is needed. DCOM 316 Journalism in the Digital Age This course will investigate ways that digital technology continues to transform journalistic standards, practices, and values. Participants will study and learn how to create professional blogs, use audio and video equipment, and employ varied techniques to create narratives appropriate for multimedia platforms. By the end of the semester students should have enhanced their communications skills, and heightened their awareness of social, cultural, economic, and political implications of online technologies and applications. (Cross‐listed with ENG 316) Prerequisite: ENG 213 or DCOM 285, or by permission. 3 credits. DCOM 344 Digital Video Authoring This is a hands‐on course that teaches students how to use video editing software to edit video and create video effects. One day per week, one hour class that will emphasize completing daily assignments, in class work, and quizzes. Corequisite for DCOM 345 Digital Video. ECE 110 Child Development I This course will provide an overview of early childhood educators' beliefs that inquiry learning through curriculum integration is the most effective way to teach young children. The emergence of constructivism and the age‐related patterns of intellectual growth will be examined. This knowledge will be essential for pre‐service teachers learning to make competent decisions about curriculum and teaching methodology. The delivery approach will follow a theory‐to‐practice format so students can see how an understanding of theories of development and relationships enhances practice and planning. 3 credits. ECN 390 ST: Sustainability The course focuses on the relationship between humans and the natural environment using the concept of sustainability or sustainable development, which is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Disciplines such as ecology, economics, political science, history, and business are used to analyze human/environment interactions. Specifically, the local, national, and global environmental effects of human development are established, and solutions are offered including energy efficiency measures, green or renewable energy, economic policy initiatives, and global environmental treaties. Students will engage in an exciting service‐learning activity to help local organizations track their carbon footprint and become more sustainable. No prior knowledge in economics is assumed. Prerequisites: Junior or Senior standing ENG 316 Journalism in the Digital Age This course will investigate ways that digital technology continues to transform journalistic standards, practices, and values. Participants will study and learn how to create professional blogs, use audio and video equipment, and employ varied techniques to create narratives appropriate for multimedia platforms. By the end of the semester students should have enhanced their communications skills, and heightened their awareness of social, cultural, economic, and political implications of online technologies and applications. Prerequisite: ENG 213 or DCOM 285, or by permission. 3 credits. ENG 330 Literary Genres: The History of the Novel In this course we will trace the history of this genre by reading eight important short novels or excerpts of longer ones that span the four‐century life of this art form. We will concentrate on novels that were especially provocative, even scandalous, in their day for either what they said or how they said it—or in some cases both. We will read, discuss, and write about the works of novelists such as Cervantes, Stern, Defoe, Bronte, Flaubert, Chopin, Joyce, Lawrence, Woolf, Hemingway, Nabokov, Vonnegut, Atwood, Silko, and Rushdie. Writing process. Prerequisite: ENG 120 or a 200‐level survey (ENG 221‐229). 3 credits. ENG 390 ST: Fantastic Film as Social Criticism Literature/Communication: The film tradition, from its beginnings, has been split between realistic representations of human existence, like Lumière’s actualités, and fantastic representations of life as it might be, such as Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon. Since film’s inception—and, indeed, earlier—patrons and scholars have asked about the value and use of non‐realistic visions and have dismissed these texts as mere entertainment or, worse, as incitements to delinquency. As we analyze films like Metropolis, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Night of the Living Dead, and Rosemary’s Baby, we will investigate the value of the anti‐realist aesthetic and consider how these texts both reflect and challenge the cultures in which they were produced. Students will learn about milestones in the development of fantastic film, gain proficiency in film analysis, and discover the main theories about why audiences enjoy and need fantastic narratives. Prerequisite: ENG 120 or a 200‐level survey (ENG 221‐229). 3 credits. ENG 390 ST: Religion and Literature Literature: In this course, we will look at some of the ways in which literature addresses the kinds of topics and questions that religion has traditionally addressed: How do human beings experience the sacred? How is faith connected with doubt? How is the dark connected with the light? What might “God” mean? What’s the point of it all? Readings will include fiction, poetry, and essays drawn from a range of historical periods. We will also look at some of the ways in which scholars of religion have responded to works of literature that deal with such issues. Disciplinary Perspectives. Prerequisite: ENG 120 or a ENG 200‐level survey. Junior or Senior standing. HIS 305 History of Mexico This course offers a survey of Mexican history from before the Spanish conquest to the present day. The approach is chronological, topical, and thematic. Critically engaging with a wide variety of course materials – including a textbook, primary documents, fictional accounts, contemporary newspaper and magazine articles, films, and Web resources – the course offers an in‐depth examination of diverse aspects of Mexican history, society, and culture. MED 110 Foundations of Music Education This course is a study of foundational matters that shore up an understanding of the music education process in schools, framing philosophical issues cross‐culturally and comparatively, so that prospective teachers might grasp a broader and more varied view of music in education across time and place. It will include a balance of the strong traditions of school music programs with the program transitions that are unfolding as society expands into technology and mediates popular culture. One component of the course will be a weekly field experience (two hours per week, minimum) to orient students into practical matters of curriculum and instruction linked to philosophical and theoretical issues. PHL 311 End of Progress At the dawn of the twentieth century Americana possessed a tremendous faith in the potential of democracy and progress. Fifty years later, after world wars, genocide, and atom bombs, faith in progress and democratic reason were in full retreat. PHL 311 examines the bases for the retreat and prospects for a renewal of democratic reason. PSY 252 The Science of Emotion This course will study the philosophical, psychological, and scientific foundations and implications of the emotion process by examining several related psychological elements associated with emotions, including motivational, social, and cognitive processes. Objectives include a) identifying several key questions in the science of emotion, b) understanding scientific approaches to the study of emotion, c) examining several processes associated with emotion and how these processes influence (and/or are influenced by) the emotion process, and d) analyzing major theories of emotion. Course content will be explored using a lecture/discussion approach, but may include some lab‐like experiences requiring students to engage in data collection projects that accompany and compliment the content covered in the class. PSC 290 ST: Fear and Terrorism Terrorism is a topic that has generated tremendous scholarly and popular interest in recent years. Although its practice is nothing new, terrorism for most Americans is indelibly associated with the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the global war on terror that followed. These events profoundly challenged and changed Americans on an emotional level, and subsequently transformed the political landscape. In many respects, however, the commentators who reported at the time that “everything had changed” were proven wrong. Fairly soon, old patterns of life, politics, and history reemerged. Consequently, this is an excellent point in time to study the question of terror, and to approach it from a multilayered (i.e., psychological, political and historical) perspective. It also corresponds with this year’s College Colloquium. The course is designed for students at the sophomore‐level and up, and will engage participants in the design and implementation of a research project. REL 204 Hindu Scripture A study of the variety of religious literature produced over the last 4000 years that has shaped Hindu thought. Central to the aim of the course is engagement with a variety of types of scripture, including poetic praise of the divine, ritual manuals, epic narrative, and contemporary devotional songs. Foreign Studies. 3 credits.