History

Theme 1: Marginality and Difference	Theme 13: Civil and Human Rights Mov.
Theme 2: Changing Ideas: Changing Worlds	Theme 14: Death and Dying
Theme 3: Society and Media	Theme 15: Global Change
Theme 4: The Human Journey	Theme 16: Health, Illness and Healing
Theme 5: War and Peace	Theme 17: Cities
Theme 7: Continuity and Change in the Americas	Theme 18: Creativity: Ideas and Innovat.
Theme 8: Gender, Society, and Gender	Theme 19: Perception
Theme 9: Religion	Theme 20: American Mosaic
Theme 10: Ethics	Theme 22: Sport and Life
Theme 11: Earth and Environment	Theme 23: Democracy
Theme 12: Freedom and Social Control	Theme 24: Study Abroad

Theme 1: Marginality and Difference

Individuals and groups, both human and animal, situated on the margins of the dominant society have often been the sources of contempt, ridicule, misunderstanding, and fear. Courses in this theme take an intimate and scholarly look at marginalized “outsiders.” The theme will help students understand the social structures and processes that create and maintain marginali-zation, analyze theresponses of the marginalized, and appreciate the experience of being an outsider. Such understanding leads one to appreciate the reciprocity between self and other, and self and society.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 1 – Marginality and Difference include the following content:

Identify and analyze the means by which a dominant culture or group creates the state of marginalization.
Examine and comprehend the experiences and responses of marginalized individuals and groups.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both SOC courses.

BIO 329 – Evolution of Social Behavior
Study of the social behavior of animals from a Darwinian perspective, emphasizing the processes through which animal societies are structured and maintained. Vertebrate and invertebrate species will be studied to understand how evolution, social behavior, and social roles are linked.

ENG 335 – Literature of American Minorities
Studies the importance and variety of the literature of African American, Native American, Asian American, and Hispanic American authors. Emphasis on themes, literary styles, and the historical and social experience of marginality in the literature. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

HST 376 – History of Witches and Witch-Hunting
Examines the wave of witch trials in Europe and New England in the 16th and 17th centuries, from its origins in medieval Christianity and folklore to the Salem witch trials of 1692, from a variety of perspectives with emphasis on the marginalization of the accused witches within their communities. Prerequisite: Completion of Historical Perspectives Foundation or 55 credits.

LIB 350 – The Immigrant Experience in the U.S.
This course will focus on the marginalized experience of people who have moved from their “home” cultures, how they adapted to the New World, and how this experience has contributed to the shaping of U.S. culture. Emphasis on the fine arts, literature, biography, film, history, and sociology. Concentration on at least two cultures, one non-European. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

MGT 355 – The Diversified Workforce*
An examination of the experiences of different groups in the American workforce, including race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Cultural differences are explored and consideration is given to the ways in which organizational norms operate to include or marginalize different kinds of people. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

SOC 250 – Perspectives on Madness
Focus on the social construction of madness. Compares the different ways madness has been defined and treated throughout history and in different cultures. Relationship between those labeled mad, those who label, and the sociocultural context will be examined.

SOC 385 – Social Inequalities
Consideration of the way in which ideas and values are socially constructed and contextually grounded. Specific focus on the historical, socioeconomic, and political construction of inequality in the United States. A comparative aspect is also provided.

Theme 2: Changing Ideas: Changing Worlds

Throughout history, controversial ideas challenged and changed the prevailing thoughts and theories of the time, significantly altering the way humans view the world and themselves. The courses in this thematic category will focus on the major ideas and thinkers that have caused paradigm shifts. Courses in the “Changing Ideas: Changing Worlds” theme will have in common a focus on the following questions: What ideas could be so powerful as to shatter all previous thought and transform our world? Who were the thinkers who made such an impact? What obstacles did they face along the way? Who were the people whose worlds were changed and what impact did these ideas have? How did these thinkers and their ideas influence the world we know now?

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 2 – Changing Ideas: Changing Worlds include the following content:

To demonstrate that intellectual endeavor is characterized as much by challenge and conflict as by cooperation.
To develop an appreciation for how paradigm shifts influence how we communicate, structure our society, and view our world/universe philosophically and as a physical entity.
To explore how paradigm shifts in one field reverberate across multiple disciplines and society as a whole.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

BIO 349 – The Darwinian Revolution
An introduction to the Darwinian revolution in biology and its impact on the Western world-view.

Examines the power of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection to explain the origin, history, and diversity of life of Earth including human affairs. Does not count toward a Biology major or minor.

ENG 383 – “Make it New!” Literary Modernism
From the cafes and “little magazines” of Paris emerged a group of writers intent of forging a new way of writing to express the new paradigms of the twentieth century. This course will focus on the work of those writers, their interactions with other artists in their community, and the social, political, cultural, and scientific circumstances that shaped their work. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

GEO 310 – Plate Tectonics
This is an upper-level course for non-majors that explores the fundamental science behind plate tectonics, geology’s major paradigm, and the consequences of plate tectonic processes on modern society. The plate tectonics paradigm has fundamentally changed how all scientists view the earth and the other planets of our solar system. The paradigm makes testable predictions about many issues important to society including mitigating damage from natural hazards, the limitations of natural resources, understanding global climate change, and even understanding the origin and evolution of life. Does not count in Geology/Earth Science Major or Minor.

HSC 201 – The Scientific Revolution
Examines the revolutionary changes in people’s view of their world and of themselves during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from an animated magical world to a clockwork universe inhabited by mechanical men. The works of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton are examined; their impact on society, religion, literature, and morals is sketched. Fulfills Historical Perspectives Foundation course.

HST 364 – Renaissance and Reformation Europe
Survey of European history from 1350 to 1560. Topics include political, social, cultural, intellectual, and religious history, with emphasis on major changes in these areas in Renaissance Italy and Reformation Germany, and on the connections between these changes. Prerequisite: Fulfillment of Historical Perspectives requirement or 55 credits.

PHY 303 – The World After Einstein
How the revolution of ideas in physics started by Einstein’s theories have changed not only science but also the way we view the world and universe. Writing and discussion of changes in physics and resulting changes in other fields initiated by Einstein’s ideas.

Theme 3: Society and Media

The mass media are more than the common currency of public and private discourse – indeed, even our internal discourse. But just as most of us rarely think about the air we breathe, so do we rarely think about the media that are our constant companion from the cradle. On those occasions when we do, it is frequently the most simplistic of terms: the media cause violence in society, a breakdown in morality, corruption of our political system, reduction in the public attention span. The reality, of course, is far more complex and subtle. Mass media play a central role in developing and passing on culture, shaping attitudes and opinions, even creating the mythology by which individuals locate and identify themselves. They are also a powerful economic force, indispensable to modern society. This theme examines media from varying perspectives – social, psychological, political, economic, cultural and aesthetic – in order to help students develop intellectual tools to engage and critically interpret their content.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 3 – Society and the Media include the following content:

Recognize the power of the media to affect and even create our perception of the world beyond our own experience.
Become aware of the social, political, and economic implications of media production.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both COM courses. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both CJR 236 and COM 220.

CJR 236 – News in Society
News as a social phenomenon. Who decides what news is and how it is perceived, collected, stored, selected, displayed, and distributed. Analysis, criticism, and some projects.

COM 220 – Media Literacy
Introduces student to historical and critical perspectives on the construction and reception of media production with the goal of encouraging them to be critical producers and consumers of media messages.

COM 372 – Global Communications
This course deals with the production and dissemination of mass media and its effects on a global scale. Emphasis is on the issues raised by the rapid expansion of the role of global mass media, the variety of technologies, and how media encourages cross-cultural unity or increase tensions within and between nations.

LIB 373 – American Society and Mass Culture
The primary goal of this course is to examine how modern media transmit and even produces mass culture. The course will certainly examine the elements that have traditionally contributed to culture myth, religion, family, politics, etc. — and investigate the ways mediated popular culture influences and often usurp those roles.

MKT 358 – Advertising and Marketing Communications*
A managerial analysis and examination of the non-personal demand generating element of the firm’s marketing efforts. Includes study of communication theory; advertising; market, audience, and target segmentation and selection; media analysis; public relations; publicity; and most other non-personal communications activities. These elements are strongly related to personal selling in the private sector firm. Offered fall and winter semesters.

*Officially declared Seidman majors may register themselves for Seidman 300/400 level courses. Non-business and pre-business students who have prerequisites met before taking the Seidman 300/400 level course may e-mail their name, G-Number, course, and semester for the course to go2gvbiz@gvsu.edu.

PLS 340 – Mass Media and American Politics
An examination of the role of mass media in American politics, including the news media as a political institution, the news media as a policy maker, media influence on political leaders, and media impact on public opinion. Prerequisite: PLS 102 or 55 credits.

PSY 349 – Psychology Applied to Media
The course deals with the psychosocial construction of reality in the mass media. Students learn to search mass media content for overt, metaphorical, and convert messages related to social class, gender roles, and other variables.

SOC 366 – Sociology of Media
A study of the underlying values and ideologies of the mass media culture. How do mass media determine the facts and frame events and debates that are important to our lives? What are the constraints of news work and the resources available to news people? We will also cover the organizational makeup of newspapers and TV newsrooms and the relationship of the industry to its audience.

Theme 4: The Human Journey

The focus of this theme is to understand human development from multiple perspectives. We are what we are because we influence and are influenced by many different physical, socio-cultural, and historical forces. Courses in this theme address the development of both the species and the individual throughout the lifespan. Study in these areas allows us to become conscious of the assumptions and biases that inform and affect human behavior.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 4 – The Human Journey include the following content:

To demonstrate understanding that human development, on both the individual and species level, is determined by multiple factors, both internal and external, interacting at particular points in time and space.
To demonstrate an understanding that life and life events can be explained from multiple perspectives.
To identify and consider the operating assumptions and biases that inform and affect the behaviors of individuals and communities.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for more than one PSY course.

BIO 103 – The Biology of People
The behavior, anatomy, physiology, and evolution of humans are studied, with the goal of explaining how their internal systems and external environments interact and are controlled. Does not count towards biology major or minor. Fulfills Life Science Foundation with Lab requirement.

LIB 314 – Life Journey
A study engaging the perspectives of the humanities on life development from childhood to old age as found in literature and such other expressions of various cultures as mythology, philosophy, art, film, and music. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

PHI 300 – Theories of Human Nature
Survey of philosophical, scientific, religious conceptions of the human being, from past and present, and from various cultures. Issues include meaning of life, destiny of humanity, relations between humans, human development and evolution, relations of humans to their creator/origins and to their environments and methodologies for investigating human nature.

PSY 364 – Life Span Development
A survey of theories and research on human development from conception through death. Physical, perceptual, cognitive, personality, social, and emotional changes are reviewed and their interrelation-ships discussed. Does not satisfy the requirements for teacher certification. Only one (PSY 301 or PSY 364) may be counted towards a major or minor. Prerequisite: PSY 101 or PSY 102 or PSY 201 or HNR 234.

PSY 366 – Perspectives on Aging
This course examines the perception of the elderly from a multidisciplinary perspective. It is first approached from more historical and philosophical perspectives and then echoed by contemporary empirical studies from a more psychological perspective. Prerequisite: PSY 101 or PSY 201 or HNR 234 or PHI 101.

PSY 377 – Psychology of the Quest
Explores the concept of “questing” as one of the stories that humans use to explain human life. The field of Jungian archetypal psychology will serve as the primary organizing structure for studying these meaning-making stories.

SOC 323 – Families in Society
An examination of the basic concepts of culture and their application, first to the American family and then to the family in other cultures. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

Theme 5: War and Peace

Scholars affirm that people have been making war on one another for as long as there have been people, yet have lived together and cooperated with one another peaceably all along as well. Economic, social, political, and cultural conflicts arise continually, sometimes with tragic results. Efforts to resolve such conflicts before they flare up in open warfare have grown increasingly important since industrialization, as the human capacity for killing one another and destroying resources needed for survival has expanded exponentially, and continues to grow. It is impossible to open a newspaper or to watch television without seeing news about wars and efforts to end or prevent them. The world that we live in today is a product of both war and peacemaking. Students taking this theme should come out of it with a broader understanding of the complexities of war and peace and how these events affect their lives and world.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 5 – War and Peace include the following content:

To analyze and interpret the causes, purposes and outcomes of wars.
To develop an understanding of the full experience of warfare from diverse perspectives.
To analyze and interpret the impact of warfare on society as a whole.
To consider ways of preventing and ending wars, and of making and keeping peace.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both HST courses or both PLS courses.

CJ 405 – Terrorism
A survey of modern domestic and international terrorism. Examines the structure and dynamics of terrorist groups, types of terrorist violence, and justification of violence. Analysis of geographical regions, religion, ideology, technology, counter measures, media, and mass destruction.

ENG 384 – Literary Responses to War and Peace
This course uses literary texts to explore the causes and consequences of war from a variety of perspectives. Works may include short stories, novels, poetry, nonfiction essays, and autobiographies. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

HST 317 – History of American Foreign Policy
Historical development of United States relations with foreign powers, focusing on issues of war and peace. Concentration on significant periods of policy formation and change, with attention to factors determining policy. Prerequisite: Completion of Historical Perspectives Foundation requirement or 55 credits.

HST 377 – History of Warfare
Survey of the role of warfare in world history from prehistory to the beginning of the industrial era. Uses a variety of media and sources to examine how and why humans have fought wars and how warfare has affected different aspects of human experience in different world regions and eras. Prerequisites: HST 204 or 55 credits.

LIB 345 – War in the Nuclear Age
Survey of the history and culture of the nuclear age. Exploration of how the development of nuclear weapons and the possibility of nuclear war have influenced relations between nations, shaped the U.S. domestic agenda and profoundly transformed the lives of individuals. Interdisciplinary perspectives on the implications of war and peace in the nuclear age.

PLS 211 – International Relations
Examination of the major theories and fields of study in international relations, focusing on conflict and cooperation among nations. Topics include power, alliances, national security, and international political economy. Special attention is devoted to the causes of war and the use of international law and organization to mediate international conflict.

PLS 311 – International Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Analysis of the causes of war and conditions for peace. Topics also include peacekeeping operations and the outcomes and ethics of war. Prerequisites: PLS 211 or 55 credits.

Theme 7: Continuity and Change in the Americas

The great forces in nature, culture, society, and history have shaped the living populations across the Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic down to the islands of Tierra Del Fuego. This theme explores the dynamics of life in the Americas punctuated over time by dramatic change brought about by natural and globalizing forces. This focus provides students with a way to explore revolutionary and evolutionary aspects of history, culture, society, and nature, and their interconnections. With this understanding, students can see their lives and histories within the panorama of other social groups in a broader context. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the theme examines such topics as geologic processes, bio-diversity and sustainability, urbanization, migration, pre-Columbian civilizations, language, literature, politics, human rights, and social movements for revolutionary change affecting the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Courses in the theme prepare students to engage in informed dialogue and civic responsibility in multicultural settings. The required theme journal, portfolio, research, and practical experiences will help prepare students for a lifelong examination of the Americas.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 7 – Continuity and Change in the Americas include the following content:

Develop a broad, liberal understanding of how continuity and change polarize, yet interact and affect nature and society over time.
Gain an awareness of the effects that slow and fast changes leave in recorded natural history and have on the history and culture of social groups.
Discriminate between natural features and cultural attributes that the Western Hemisphere shares globally and that set it aside as a distinct, sub-global space.
Develop a paradigm for critical thinking about one’s future in relation to a lifelong examination of events in the Americas, including the U.S.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both ANT courses.

ANT 355 – On the Move: Migrations in the Americas
A comparative, cross-cultural study of human migration in the Americas, drawing on the discipline of anthropology for methodology and content. Explores patterns of migration and issues of adaptation, assimilation, borders, transnationalism, immigrants, refugees, displaces, identity, and ethnicity. Prerequisites: Completion of the World Perspectives Culture requirement or the U.S. Diversity Culture requirement.

ANT 360 – Ethnography of Mesoamerica
Examines the cultural history and social dynamics that have shaped modern Mesoamerica. Includes discussion of environment, archeology, diversity of modern Mexico and Guatemalan cultures, and current issues of development and human rights. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

BIO 310 – Biological Diversity of the Americas
This course examines the relationships between long-term gradual change, short-term chaotic change and the bio-diversity of the Americas. The value of bio-diversity will also be discussed.

ENG 385 – Writing and Revolution in the Americas
Examines literary responses to various forms of revolutionary change in the Americas. Students consider the ways in which writers have responded to major transformations in societies across the Western Hemisphere. Profound societal changes are examined against the backdrop of everyday life and the persistence of the status quo. Prerequisites: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

GEO 350 – Geology’s Great Debate in the New World
Geology’s great debate, whether Earth was shaped by slow, uniform processes or rapid, catastrophic events is explored in the context of the history of the science of geology and the development of the New World by examining selected topics related to major geologic events in the Western Hemisphere. Does not count in Geology/Earth Science Major or Minor.

HST/LAS 374 – Revolution in the Americas
Men and women make history, sometimes through gradual, passive means and sometimes through sudden, active means. This course asks you to explore both categories of history making by comparing revolutionary and evolutionary processes of change in the making of the Americas. Prerequisite: HST 204 or LAS 310 or 55 credits, LAS 210.

LAS 210 – Exploring Latin America
The indigenous, European, and African cultures forming Latin American and Caribbean civilization are examined through the multidisciplinary lenses of the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences. Attention is also given to U.S. Latino cultures and to the interrelationship between Latin America and the United States. Fulfills World Perspective requirement.

Theme 8: Gender, Society, and Culture

The purpose of this theme is to explore sex and gender as the fundamental organizing principals of all human societies. In all societies, past and present, one’s social status and identity are embedded in one’s biological status. The courses in this theme consider questions such as: How are the gender identities formed and constructed within social and historical context? How do gender and race intersect? How do economic and legal institutions and religious ideologies define and reinforce men’s and women’s status and roles? How have aspects of family life, sexual identity, and sexual orientation been perceived in other parts of the world and in different periods of history? How have feminist thinkers influenced social and political spheres in the U.S.? Courses in the theme expose students to diverse models of gender relationships and help them analyze the origins, maintenance, and processes of change in gender roles and statuses in the U.S. and abroad.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 8 – Gender, Society, and Culture include the following content:

To gain an understanding of the complexity of gender roles, the importance of the construction of gender in social, political and economic areas.
To examine and articulate the controversial issues concerning the biological and/or cultural bases of sex differences.
To develop an awareness of how the social construction of gender shapes men’s and women’s experiences within a society through a critical assessment of biological and/or social based models of sex and gender.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both AAA 351 AND AAA 352/WGS 352. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both SOC 379 and SOC 375/WGS 375.

AAA 351 – Perspectives on African American Males
A critical examination of the socialization, life ways, status, and future of African American males. Historical perspectives, present status, cultural expression and social relationships, empowerment, masculinity, psychosocial development and coping, and the future of Africa American males.

AAA/WGS 352 – Black Women’s Cultures and Communities
A historical and theoretical analysis of the distinct identities African American women constructed for themselves (and had constructed for them) in response to the forces of patriarchal domination and political colonization. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

ANT 370 – Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Gender
Examines gender as a fundamental organization theme of culture. Emphasizes the sociocultural basis for gender differences using a cross-cultural and comparative approach. Discusses how gender relations affect all other aspects of human life. Prerequisite: ANT 204 or ANT 206. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

BIO 325 – Human Sexuality
Introduction to the biological dimensions of human sexuality from physiological, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives.

CJ/WGS 320 – Crimes Against Women
An in-depth study of crimes committed almost exclusively against women. Such crimes include: sexual harassment, rape, and certain types of murder. The course is taught within the framework of feminist theory and research.

CLA 320 – Women in the Classical World
Introduction of women’s lives and gender relations in ancient Greece and Rome, both in the private world of the family and public sphere of religion and politics. Topics include: myths about women; how legal, medical, and philosophical texts represent women; and what women say about themselves in their own writings. Prerequisites: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

ECO 350 – Gender and Economics*
Analysis of gender differences in employment and earnings. Topics include allocation of time between the household and the labor market, employment and family structure, theories of discrimination, antipoverty programs, comparable worth, parental leave, and affirmative action. Historical trends and cross-cultural comparisons are discussed along with current U.S. conditions.

HST 371 – The History of Gender, Family, and Sexuality
Examines how men’s and women’s roles, family life and understandings of sexuality have changed from 1500 to the present in Europe and North America. Covers early modern Europe and colonial America, the Enlightenment and the French and American Revolutions, the 19th century’s industriali-zation, urbanization, and empire building, and ends with this century’s two world wars and the con-struction of modern welfare systems and nation states. Prerequisite: HST 204 or 55 credits.

LIB 325 – Understanding the Gay Life Cycle
A study of the gay life cycle focuses on issues of identity, relationships, and society. Issues are examined through the use of literature, movies, and guest speakers. Students become aware of similarities and differences between homosexual and heterosexual lifestyles.

LS/WGS 370 – Women and the Law
Overview of the treatment of women in American law including: constitutional limitations on sex discrimination in the law and on efforts to end discrimination; gender based influences in the law of marriage and divorce; relationships outside marriage; reproductive rights and biological factors impacting on these rights; violence against women; and employment discrimination.

PHI 370 – Feminist Philosophy
Examines feminist social and political theories, including how feminist thinkers have changed traditional social and political theories. The course includes examination of education from a feminist perspective, how women’s culture changed historically as feminist consciousness developed, and explores various contemporary political theories from a feminist perspective. Prerequisites: PHI 101 or PHI 102 or PHI 201.

SOC/WGS 375 – Perspectives on Masculinities
This course discusses and analyzes Clatterbaugh’s social and political perspectives on men and the men’s movement. It will engage the student to look critically at conservative, pro-Feminist, men’s rights and black men’s issues.

SOC 379 – Love, Sex, and Gender
This course examines sex, love, and gender and historical constructs constituted in language, discourse, and experience. This course explores the idea that there is nothing that is inherently (intrinsically) sexual. Focuses on historical meanings of sexuality and love, the social constructionist account of gender, scientific investigations and control of sexuality in the 19th and 20th century, and the place of sexuality in the 20th century consciousness and social policy.

SS/WGS 351 – Family and Gender in the Developing World
An examination of how families and gender roles are affected by modernization. Fulfills World Perspective requirement.

WGS 310 – Sexual Orientation and the Law
An examination of legal and policy issues relating to sexual orientation including constitutional law, criminal law, family law, and employment law. A multidisciplinary approach, including substantive and procedural legal issues, legal thought, women’s and gender studies, and philanthropy.

Theme 9: Religion

Religion is one of the most fundamental and enduring human responses to life. Some see it as an illusion, an opiate, or an understandable reaction to the otherwise intolerable fact that we will die. Others see religion as the body of values, rituals, and beliefs that connect humanity to the ultimate conditions of existence. Taken together, courses in this Theme examine different religions from different critical perspectives and methods in the humanities and social sciences. The purpose of this Theme is to expose students to a rigorous interdisciplinary study of religion.

Theme Goals:

Students will achieve a greater understanding of religions and religious practices.
Students will achieve a greater understanding of the different ways of studying religion.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must choose three courses from three disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both HST, LIB, or PHI courses.

ANT 315 – Comparative Religions
A cross-cultural study of contemporary religions. Examines the diversity of religious meaning through the lived experiences of cultures, traditions, and sects around the world. Exposes students to anthropological interpretations of religion through a range of methods, including ethnography. Themes include symbolism, ritual, death, shamanism, healing, magic, pilgrimage, and interfaith movements. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

CLA 315 – Ancient Religion
A study of the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient world, emphasizing the religious traditions of Greece, Rome, Egypt, and the Near East. Topics include: views of the afterlife; temples as sanctuaries; religion in daily life; “mystery” religions; and the rise of the monotheistic religions of Judaism and Christianity. Prerequisites: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

HST 211 – Survey of the History of Islamic Civilization
An introduction to the history of Islamic civilization and the development of its relationship with Western Europe and the United States. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

HST 311 – History of Religion in the United States
This course is a study of the major developments in the religious history of the United States from the first North American colonies to the start of the twenty-first century, concentrating on the relationship between religion and other aspects of American history. Prerequisites: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

HST 342 – History of East Asian Religions
A study of the belief systems of East Asian countries. It introduces the major East Asian religious traditions and their modern developments. Class readings will center on primary materials in English translation supplemented by interpretative secondary scholarship. In this way each student will be challenged to understand firsthand the religious ideas of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Shinto as well as the religious practices of communal ritual, shamanism, spirit possession, faith healing, and meditation. Prerequisites: Completion of the Historical Perspectives Foundation requirement or 55 credits.

LIB 300 – Jewish Scriptures and Traditions
Focusing on the textual heritage of Judaism, the ancestor of Islam and Christianity as well as a vibrant religion today, this course explores Jewish traditions and rituals as the originated throughout history and as practiced today in the world’s diverse Jewish communities. Prerequisite: Any ANT course or PHI course or 55 credits.

LIB 335 – Scriptures as Literature
A comparative study of Scriptures as literary masterpieces that shape and influence their respective cultural expressions and literary traditions. Readings include Scriptures from major world religions such as The Dhammapada, The Lotus Sutra, The Rig Veda, Upanishad, The Bible, The Koran, and Tao Te Ching. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

PHI 312 – Medieval Great Philosophers
A study of one or several medieval great philosophers, such as: Plotinus, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Maimonides. Focus will be on the philosopher’s writings, but attention also will be given to context and tradition.

PHI 343 – Philosophy of Religion
Does God exist? Is there life after death? How did evil enter the world? Is there any place for reason in religion, or is religious faith only a subjective experience? Questions like these will be considered, as well as the answers that have been given to them by some important religious philosophers.

PLS 330 – Religion and Politics in America
Explores the interaction of politics and religion in the United States. Surveys the political beliefs, behaviors and organizations within major religious traditions. Topics include the role of religion in crafting public policy, the politics of church and state, and general theories of religion and public life. Prerequisites: PLS 102 or 55 credits.

PSY 385 – Psychology of Religion
A systematic study of psychological theories and empirical data on religious phenomena. Consideration will be given to various definitions of religious belief; the psychological explanations of religious behavior; the dynamics of religious thought, the relationships between religion, positive mental health, and psychopathology; and the social functions served by religion. Prerequisite: PSY 101 or PSY 201 or HNR 234.

SOC 357 – Sociology of Religion
Critically analyzes religion as an institutional structure and belief system, and explores the relationship of religion to social change and organization. Emphasis on religion in the contemporary United States; includes attention to non-Western influences.

Theme 10: Ethics

Ethics can raise our awareness of the implications of our acts, whether on ourselves, our progeny, or the biosphere as a whole. It can increase our consciousness of the reciprocal obligations we inevitably undertake in our social roles. Ethics can help us to engage our ideals, to recognize their value, and to act in ways that are informed by them. It can remind us of our duties as employers and employees, professionals, citizens, people inhabiting the earth, and as one generation linked to the generations that have come before us and those that will follow. Ethics can empower us because it can help us to see the many senses in which we are a part of a greater whole. Ethics involves the study of moral imagination, moral judgment, and moral action. Courses in the Ethics Theme are designed to strengthen these moral capacities.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 10 – Ethics include the following content:

To help students understand the public consequences of their acts.
To help students appreciate the reciprocal obligations of their roles in society.
To help students recognize the ways in which behaviors are rationalized.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both BIO or MGT courses.

BIO 328 – Biomedical Ethics
The course engages students in the practical application of common ethical dilemmas met today in human medicine. Emphasis will be placed on the reciprocal obligations associated with the interaction of patients with health care workers as well as in the social implications of our modern health care network. In this process, students will be involved in expanding their information base and working with a variety of ethical frameworks for decision making. Prerequisite: Completion of 70 credits.

BIO 338 – Environmental Ethics
The course engages students in the practical application of common ethical dilemmas met today in humans’ relationship to nature and the earth. Emphasis is on humans as citizens of the larger biotic community and the “public consequences” of human choices. As these dilemmas are studied, students will be involved in expanding their information base and working with a variety of ethical frameworks for decision making.

COM 438 – Communications Ethics
An upper division course for the study of communications ethics. Students explore how language and innocence are mutually exclusive, examine how rhetoric, ideology, and information bear upon social and personal evil, and consider ethics issues relating specifically to communicative media. Focus is directed to the assessment and development of ethical sense making.

MGT 340 – Business, Social Change, and Ethics*
Examines the process of business development and the ethical questions that process raises. Particular attention is paid to the questions raised by market pressures, bureaucratic structure, and income stratification.

MGT 438 – Business Ethics*
An inquiry into the relevance of the classical ethical literature to the resolution of everyday business problems. Particular emphasis will be placed on the practical usefulness of the Socratic tradition. That tradition requires that we attend to clarifying our own values and those of others. Prerequisite: MGT 331.

MKT 375 – Public Policy and Marketing*
The ethical implications of several current marketing public policy issues will be discussed, including consideration of each issue with regard to the responsibility of business in society. Guidelines for ethical decision-making, principles of ethical leadership, and ethical behavior in corporate governance will also be reviewed.

PHI 325 – Ethics in Professional Life
Philosophical ethics aims to develop a rational understanding of the values that guide our choices, and in turn shape the course of our lives. This course focuses on ethical issues common to the various professions. A good portion of our discussions will focus on the medicine and law, although the issues explored here are those generally relevant to other professional practices.

PLS 338 – Citizenship
Citizenship addresses a core political issue — defining membership in a political community. This course will study classic statements about citizenship, the approach to citizenship taken historically in the U.S., a nation of immigrants, and several different contemporary visions of ethically appropriate citizenship.

Theme 11: Earth and Environment

This theme will examine the environment from a variety of perspectives, including personal, cultural, regional, national, and global. Phenomena considered may vary in scale from local to global and over time scales from moments to millennia. The purpose of the theme is to increase the students’ knowledge of the importance of the environment and to produce citizens who make informed personal and political decisions about the environment. Courses are designed to enable a student to develop a critical understanding of the consequences of human interactions with the environment for humans and other species, the natural world and the earth as a whole. Students will also examine how natural environmental factors affect, and are affected by, social and cultural life.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 11 – Earth and Environment include the following content:

Human views of and influences on the environment.
Environmental influences on humans, their cultures, and their endeavors.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for more than one GPY course.

ANT 340 – Culture and Environment
This course compares different adaptive strategies of cultures from around the world and seeks to understand the ethical and social values different groups have related to the environment. Attention is focused on how humans have relied on cultural mechanisms in the past to adapt to and ultimately change their physical and natural environment. Prerequisites: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent, and either a World Perspectives or a U.S. Diversity course. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

BIO 105 – Environmental Science
Study of natural ecosystems, their interrelationships, and human impacts; evolution of humans and environmental determinants of their cultures; land use; resource and energy utilization, population trends and causative factors, air and water pollution; and economic factors influencing decision-making are emphasized. Fulfills Life Sciences Foundation without Lab requirement.

ECO 345 – Environmental and Resource Economics*
Introduction to market and government influences on environmental and natural resources. Topics include: trends in land development and land-use policies, relationship between land use and environmental quality, regulatory versus market oriented environmental policies, supplies and prices of mineral and energy resources, harvest and protection of forests and fisheries. Prerequisites: ECO 200 or ECO 211.

ENG 382 – Nature Writing
Focuses on the literature that deals with the relationship between human beings and the natural world. The course includes literary nonfiction, nature poetry, environmental fiction, and other forms of literature that illuminate both human and nonhuman nature. In addition to writing analytic papers, students will try several forms of nature writing. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

GEO 300 – Geology and the Environment
Detailed examination of interactions and connections between people and their geologic environment from an Earth Systems perspective. Using case studies and current events, students investigate complex environmental processes and issues related to the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Students will reach and defend decisions concerning personal, corporate, and governmental actions. Does not count in Geology/Earth Science Major or Minor.

GPY 352 – Geography of Latin America
The growth and development of Latin America has a significant impact on most activities in North America. Examines those effects and studies the cultural and physical development of Latin America.

GPY 356 – Geography of Europe
The world has been strongly influenced by European geographic principles and practices. Course will focus on the physical and cultural geographic development of Europe, including a spatial analysis of the area’s population, resources, and economy.

GPY 410 – Landscape Analysis
Landscape analysis is a broadly interdisciplinary study that includes concepts and methods of physical and human geography, ecology, planning, and architecture. It includes the biophysical and societal causes and consequences of landscape heterogeneity, processes, and evolution. Conceptual and theoretical core of this course links natural sciences with related human disciplines. Prerequisites: GPY 100 or GEO 111 or BIO 105.

GPY 412 – Global Environmental Change
Course focuses on the changing nature of our environment and human-environmental interactions. Topics include climatic fluctuations, environmental reconstructions, the interactions between humans and the environment since prehistoric times, and human-induced environmental change of the last century at the global, continental, and regional scales. Prerequisite: GPY 100 or BIO 105.

LIB 330 – The Idea of Nature
An historical and cross-cultural examination of how nature has been interpreted by science, philosophy, religion, literature, and art.

NRM 451 – Natural Resource Policy
Study of how natural resource policy is developed and implemented in the United States. The evolution of public policies with respect to public land acquisition and disposal, forestry, rangeland, minerals, parks, wilderness, fisheries, wildlife, and water are discussed.

WGS 335 – Women, Health and Environment
This course is an overview of contemporary women’s health issues focusing on the inter-connectedness between health and the environment. Topics include reproductive issues, pesticides, sustainable development, occupational hazards, health insurance, and breast cancer. Discussions and readings will focus on the impact of race, class, and sexuality on women’s health.

Theme 12: Freedom and Social Control

To most college students, few things are more important than freedom, which you may feel you have for the first time because you are now living on your own. You may rank it above even other core democratic values, like equality, with which it is sometimes at odds. Historically, freedom has meant different things in different cultures and contexts. The aspiration of people to have freedom has been expressed, on one hand, by liberation movements and immigration patterns throughout the world on the part of persons “yearning to be free,” and on the other hand by individuals and groups seeking to maximize their own freedom through exercising control over others. Our ideas about freedom and social control affect our lives in important ways by helping shape what we think to be humanly possible and desirable. This Theme will help you think critically about these issues from a variety of perspectives, and to wrestle with the apparent paradox that to have freedom, one might need to relinquish some of it.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 12 – Freedom and Social Control include the following content:

Explore the historical, philosophical, biological, political, and cultural underpinnings of our ideas about freedom and/or social control.
Examine the ways that ideas about freedom and social control inform social practice and express or redefine human nature.
Wrestle with the relationships between freedom and social control, especially the apparent paradox that to have societal freedom, one might need to relinquish some of it.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

BIO 311 – The Biological Basis of Society
This course examines the relationships and conflicts between the biological basis of human behaviors and the ideas of socially defined freedoms and controls. Does not count toward a Biology major or minor.

CJ 325 – Criminal Justice and Human Rights
This course focuses on the tension between evolving definitions of human rights and criminal justice systems efforts to maintain or increase levels of social control. The course also provides opportunities to study international perspectives on criminal justice institutions.

CLA 287 – Roman Law
Multidisciplinary introduction to the legal system that governed the Roman Empire and influenced all subsequent Western legal thought. Interactive, case-based approach focuses upon analysis of hypo-thetical situations. Topics include substantive private law, Roman legal history, and contributions to modern legal systems. Especially valuable for pre-law students. All readings in translation. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

ENG 392 – Language and Power
Examines language as a means of achieving personal and cultural freedom and as a tool for controlling and oppressing others. Students study various theories of language use and explore the tension between our right to use language freely and our need to protect ourselves from the ways others use language. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

HST 372 – From Slavery to Freedom
Ironically, the modern concept of freedom emerged in societies deeply invested in its opposite, slavery. This course looks at the history of slavery and its abolition in four American societies – Haiti, the U.S., Cuba, and Brazil – to distinguish the distinctive ways in which each of them defined and constructed freedom. Prerequisite: HST 210 or LAS 310 or 55 credits.

LIB 340 – Utopias: Ideal Worlds
Is freedom really life without external social constraints, or is it unattainable unless we accept some amount of societal control over our actions? This course examines several utopias and dystopias to understand what freedom can mean and to wrestle with the proper balance between freedom and means of social control.

PHI 320 – Social and Political Philosophy
Analyzes the intellection appropriation of the concept of freedom over time. Examines the dynamic interaction between freedom and social control from ancient times to modernity. Includes Plato, Epicurus, Aristotle, Aurelius, Augustine, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Marx.

SOC 392 – Social Deviance and Social Control
An analysis of deviant behavior: its causes, manifestations, prevention, and programs of control. Special attention is given to the role of social norms in generating as well as controlling deviance. Emphasis is put on ways in which social structures generate and label deviants.

Theme 13: Civil and Human Rights Movements

The quest for human rights has been a defining aspect of modern societies resulting in various social movements to advance civil and human rights in both U.S. and global contexts such as the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement. Students taking this theme will enter the lives of those who participated in a civil or human rights social movement, relive the human dramas that unfolded and reflect on the continuing quest for civil and human rights in societies today and in the future.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 13 – Civil and Human Rights Movements include the following content:

To analyze the evolution of public discourses regarding human rights.
To examine contested social constructs of “difference” such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexualities, class, faith, and nationality in relation to human rights.
To comprehend the ways that social movements strive to advance human rights.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

AAA 305 – Perspectives On The Black Arts Movement
An analysis of the development and reception of radical shifts in Black American identity, ideals, and aspirations as articulated by Black artists and critics reacting to integrationist ideals of the civil rights movement.

ENG 381 – Regional Discourses of the Civil Rights Movement
This course will examine preliminary sources, autobiographies, memoirs, documentaries, novels, and social documents in order to examine both the strengths and setbacks of civil rights movement. Students will grow to understand the ethos of the times — its goals, its fervor, and its sufferings. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

HST 316 – History of the Civil Rights Movement 1940-1980
In History 316, students should gain an understanding of each of the following: the circumstances under which Africans found themselves in America; American civic ideals which historically did not apply to African Americans; the role of religion in American race relations; and African American cultural formations as space for resistance to the premise of white supremacy. Prerequisite: Completion of Historical Perspectives Foundation requirement or 55 credits.

LIB 320 – Social Autobiography of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement
An inquiry, through reading and writing, into the dynamics of cultural change and personal development in the genre of social autobiography, particularly in the Civil Rights era. The course will primarily address Civil Rights era biography and autobiography; however, feminist, gay and lesbian rights, and leaders of Native American movements may also be addressed. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

PLS 307 – American Constitutional Law II
Civil liberties and civil rights: Constitutional principles, theories of constitutional interpretations, Supreme Court rulings, political consequences of rulings, and political and legal factors that influence Supreme Court decisions, especially civil rights decisions.

SOC 333 – Sociology of the Civil Rights Movement
This course applies multiple sociological models of social movements to the American Civil Rights Movement (CRM) from 1945-1970’s.

Theme 14: Death and Dying

Death is a universal experience among humans. Most experts in the field of grief and bereavement categorize the American society as a death-denying culture. As a result, many individuals are uncomfortable discussing issues related to death and dying and may go to great lengths to avoid dealing with death-related issues. The Death and Dying Theme will provide students with an opportunity to explore death and dying issues in a structured, safe forum. Students who select this Theme will develop a greater understanding of the experience of the death on a personal and societal level.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 14 – Death and Dying include the following content:

Students will understand how attitudes, beliefs, and/or issues related to death and dying have evolved over time.
Students will understand death and dying from multiple viewpoints such as personal, family, social, public, legal, or clinical.
Students will understand death of human beings is a social event.
Students will understand that there is conceptual confusion about the definitions, criteria, measurement (tests), and meanings of death.

Theme Skills:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

ANT 316 – Death, Burial, and Culture
This course examines how different cultures approach issues and customs surrounding death, drawing on evidence from biological and cultural anthropology and archeology students learn from the death and how it illuminates life in different cultures around the world and through time. Fulfills World Diversity requirement. Prerequisites: ANT 204 or ANT 206 or ANT 220 or permission of instructor.

BMS 374 – Physiological Aspects of Death and Dying
An overview of the physiological process connected with death and dying. Topics include body mechanisms associated with aging and common causes of death, autopsies, decompositions, modes of body disposition (and how they differ among cultures), and methods of body preservation (e.g. embalming and mummification).

ENG 386 – Literary Responses to Death and Dying
Course uses literary texts to acquaint students with the variety of responses of different cultures to issues surrounding death and dying. Works may include notification, memoir, poetry, drama, and fiction. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

NUR 354 – An Overview of End-of-Life Care
This course is intended for persons interested in exploring issues surrounding death and dying. Emphasis is placed on providing the student who is a consumer with critical knowledge that will assist in improving end-of-life care.

PHI 341 – Philosophy of Death and Dying
A philosophical exploration of ethical, religious, and metaphysical questions about death and dying, such as care for the dying, euthanasia, suicide, life after death. What is a human being? The meaning of life? Our place in the universe? Classical and contemporary writings, East and West, will be examined.

SPA 307 – Death and Dying in Hispanic Literature
Examines the literary representations of and responses to death and dying within the historical and cultural context of Spain and Latin America through the reading and discussion of representative poetic, dramatic, and narrative works. Course does not count toward the major or minor when taught in English.

SS 381 – Death and Dying
Considers the way in which ideas and values are socially constructed and contextually grounded. Specific focus on the historical, socioeconomic, psychological, and political construction of death and dying in the United States. A comparative aspect is also provided.

Theme 15: Global Change: Integration and Fragmentation

The peoples and societies of the world are constantly changing, and often these changes are influenced by what is happening in other countries and in other cultures. In the past we may have dismissed as unimportant the fact that as a nation we influence others, and that others influence us. But, as these connections become an increasingly important aspect of our lives, we cannot afford to ignore them any longer. In “Global Change: Integration and Fragmentation” we look at some of the different links among nations and peoples around the world. We investigate how some influences tie societies more closely together, while others push them further apart. We explore how these relationships affect us.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 15 – Global Change: Integration and Fragmentation include the following content:

To understand how different influences and trends shape countries and peoples around the world.
To analyze the dynamic tension between integration and fragmentation.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both ECO, GPY, or MGT courses.

BUS 301 – International Business and Culture*
Explores how business is done in a country or region, and how culture influences business and its environment. Reviews country’s history, economics, politics, government, arts or education. Explores how business practices may differ from U.S. practices. To be taught in that country as a part of a study abroad program. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

CTH 373 – Global Arts Performance and Management
Surveys contemporary international trends in intercultural performance, identifying the boundaries of an emerging world culture. Examines theatre forms, theatre festivals, and the issues arising from global arts performance.

ECO 349 – Emerging Markets Issues*
Important problems in emerging markets throughout the world, such as: policies to stimulate growth via international trade; foreign aid and multinational investment in transitional economics; the use of natural resources and agriculture in economic development; and the relationship of economic development to education, health, and migration. Prerequisites: ECO 200 or ECO 210. Fulfills the World Perspectives requirement.

ECO 369 – International Economics Issues*
Selected topics in both international trade and international finance. Includes preferential trading arrangements such as NAFTA and the European Union; analysis of barriers to trade and arguments for protectionism; the influence of exchange rates on capital flows and the relationship between international trade and economic growth. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites: ECO 200 or ECO 210.

GPY 335 – Geographic Patterns – Global Development
Development involves positive and social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental changes for people living in a region or a country. GPY 335 explores the complex geography of the process associated with the development and the particular global development.

GPY 350 – Geography of Russia and Eurasian Republics
Introduces trends in physical, cultural, economic, and environmental geography of Russia and fourteen Eurasian republics of the former Soviet Union. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

HST 386 – Europe Since 1945
Examines Europe from the end of World War II to the present. Topics include: post-war Europe; the Soviet bloc; the Cold War; decolonization; political; social and cultural developments in East and West Europe; the European community; the disintegration of the Communist bloc; contemporary Europe. SWS course. Prerequisites: HST 204 or 55 credits.

HTM 202 – International Tourism
Introduction to International tourism focusing on the socio-economic impacts of international tourism along with the inherent public-private interactions. International tourism is more than a set of industries, but rather an activity that encompasses human behavior, uses of resources (public and private), and interaction with other people, economies, and environments. Prerequisites: None — HTM 101 suggested.

MGT 303 – Introduction to International Business*
An introduction to the issues that a company will experience when doing business in a global economy. Emphasis on the influence of culture on business practices. Topics will include economic structures, marketing approaches, accounting and financial issues, management and organization issues, and distribution issues. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

MGT 466 – International Management and Multinational Corporations*
The course explores how firms become global and compete in the global marketplace. Many companies find they can’t compete if they limit their sales to the home market. Therefore, selling internationally may be a sensible step. This course looks at how international forces affect firms’ ability to conduct business across borders. The course also looks at the knowledge and skills managers need to do business in and to work with people from other cultures. The premise is that international business dealings will be more successful if business people understand, and have the skills to resolve, management problems that arise as people from different cultures interact. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

MKT 359 – Multinational Marketing*
Emphasizes global marketing decision making from the manager’s point of view. Examines how successful international companies, both large and small, decide which goods and services to market in specific parts of the world. Evaluates the strategies and tactics necessary for multinational marketing success.

PLS 315 – International Political Economy
Empirical analysis of the politics of international economic relations, including the impact of domestic and international political variables on international economic cooperation and conflict. Prerequisites: PLS 211 and (ECO 210 or ECO 211).

Theme 16: Health, Illness and Healing

Terms such as health, healing, and illness are loosely utilized in everyday life, however, do we really know their meaning? This Theme explores the complexity of health, illness, and healing and their various manifestations across time, space, perception, and experience. Students enrolled in theme courses: 1) analyze and understand how health, health maintenance, illness, and healing are identified, experienced, and perceived by individuals, societies, and cultures; 2) examine the dynamic interplay between human health, biology, and culture over time; and 3) develop a critical understanding of cross-cultural healing practices and health care delivery.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 16 – Health, Illness, and Healing include the following content:

To analyze health, health maintenance, illness, or healing across societies/cultures.
To examine the dynamic interplay between human health, biology, and culture over time.
To develop a critical understanding of healing practices and health care delivery across cultures.

Theme Skills:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

ANT 320 – Culture and Disease
Introduces students to the anthropological study of disease ecology and medical systems cross-culturally. Explores the impact of disease, ecology, and socio-cultural behavior throughout human evolution. Investigates the efficacy and nature of non-Western curing procedures and the cultural and psychodynamic features of illness. Prerequisite: ANT 204 or ANT 206 or ANT 220.

BIO 309 – Plants and Human Health
Examination of the plants (including fungi) and plant products that are sources of medicines and herbal remedies. Plants that are a regular part of our diets and that have been found to have health benefits will also be discussed.

BMS 223 – Public Health Concepts
An introduction to the strategies and tactics, both past and present, for the control and eradication of infectious and chronic diseases of humans.

HPR 340 – Health Care Management
An introduction to the basic concepts of health care management, including problem solving, planning, organization, motivation, leadership, and group process.

HST 370 – History of Medicine and Health
Survey of medical and health related topics from ancient Greece through the present. Course units include disease migration, unorthodox medicine, professionalization, sanitary science, bacteriology, medicalization of deviance, nursing, philanthropy, gender, colonialism, environmental/industrial medicine, Medicare/Medicaid, and AIDS. Prerequisite: Completion of Historical Perspectives Foundation requirement or 55 credits.

PSY 368 – Psychology of Physical Disabilities
Examines the effect of physical disabilities on body image, self-concept, emotions, and interpersonal functioning. Various approaches to the psychological rehabilitation of the disabled person will be compared and evaluated. Prerequisite: PSY 101 or PSY 201 or HNR 234.

SOC 356 – Sociology of Health Care
An analysis of the social facets of health and disease, the social functions of health organizations, the relationship of health care delivery to other social systems, the social behavior of health care providers and consumers, and international patterns of health services. Race, class, and gender issues are examined.

SW 322 – Health Care and Social Services
Provides an overview of the health care and social services delivery systems in America. Examines values, multicultural, political, and economic issues that impact the development and implementation of health care policy and practices. The impact of illness, environment, nutrition, and the roles of the generalist social work practitioner are included.

Theme 17: Cities

The city is a bright light drawing people from the surrounding darkness; it has been a crucible upon which experiences in human history have been forged. Urbanization is a complex process occurring over time and across space. It always involves shifts of population – sometimes centripetal as rural people are drawn into a central city – sometimes centrifugal as the central city sprawls into a new kind of urbanism. During the last two centuries, urbanization has usually involved a shift from employment in agriculture and in the home to factory work. That shift has generally involved wrenching cultural transformations – moving people from traditional societies based on the farm and rooted in extended family to the continually changing mix of cultures, values, and language which they find in the cities. A subsequent change, one we are in the middle of, involves the breakdown of central cities, at least as centers of population, and the increasing importance of relatively homogeneous scattered suburbs.

Today, post industrial transformations and globalization create new challenges and opportunities for cities. The most dynamic cities are focused on high-technology production and services and attract both well-educated and low-income migrants. Challenges for cities in the future include promoting sustainability through economic development, advancing environmental stewardship, and promoting social integration that satisfies the needs of diverse populations while reducing social exclusion.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 17 – Cities include the following content:

Students will understand the key elements of urbanization process in a global context.
Students will comprehend how economic forces influence and shape cities.
Students will understand how cities are socially and politically organized and how that organization affects the well being of urban residents.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both ECO classes.

AAA 315 – From Field to Factory: the Great African American Migration
Examines the sociocultural, political, economic, psychological, and interpersonal consequences of the migration of over one million African Americans from the rural South to the industrialized North during the decades surrounding World Wars I and II.

ECO 435 – Urban Economics*
Topics include the urbanization process, the city as an economic system, location analysis, poverty, housing, pollution, transportation, and public finance. Prerequisite: ECO 200 or ECO 211.

ECO 436 – Real Estate Economics*
Develops an economic framework for understanding urban real estate markets. Topics include: the determinants of land prices and urban spatial structure; the characteristics of the urban housing market; factors that influence business locations; characteristics of commercial real estate markets; and the response of real estate markets to business cycles. Prerequisite: ECO 200 or ECO 211.

*Officially declared Seidman majors may register themselves for Seidman 300/400 level courses. Non-business and pre-business students who have prerequisites met before taking the Seidman 300/400 level course may e-mail their name, G Number, course, and semester for the course to go2gvbiz@gvsu.edu

GPY 309 – Introduction to City and Regional Planning
An introductory course for people interested in careers in planning and public administration. Explores the relationship between the goals of a community and the techniques needed to implement them.

HST 327 – History of the American Urban Society
Comparative study of American urban structures including the commercial city, the industrial city, the suburbs and the edge city. These structures will be seen as metaphorical theatrical stages upon which ethnic, racial, gender, and economic groups create social and cultural formations. Prerequisite: Completion of Historical Foundations requirement or 55 credits.

PA 307 – Local Politics and Administration
Comparative study of government systems, rural and urban. Students specialize in their own governments.

SOC 351 – Urban Sociology
Explores urban theory, including Chicago school, political economy, pluralist and postmodern approaches; the evolution or U.S. cities; suburbanization, immigration, race relations, street life, redevelopment, urban politics and planning, and international comparisons. Readings focus on urban theory, specific cities, and methods. Prerequisite: SOC 201.

SS 324 – Urbanization
An examination of the process of urbanization and the impact of has on various cultures. Considers the dynamic growth of urbanization in third-world countries and the significant increase in global urbanization, emphasizing the evolution of cities over time, space, and vastly different social, political, and cultural environments. Fulfills World Perspectives requirement.

Theme 18: Creativity: Ideas and Innovation

The central idea behind this theme is that anyone can become more creative. Because creative thinking identifies opportunities that are unbounded, even students who already exhibit creative behaviors can be energized to question assumptions, synthesize ideas and recognize the value in thinking in new ways. Courses in this Theme will identify the barriers to creative behavior by studying different populations, cultures, organizations, personality types, and individual thinking habits. Students will see how work and play environments can encourage creative activities and risk taking. Included in this theme are courses that introduce students to the steps in creative processes and critically examine prevailing academic theories in the study of creativity. There are many opportunities for creative activities, such as case studies, interdisciplinary projects and public performances. Courses in this Theme utilize multi-disciplinary approaches that include literature, the fine and popular arts, exercises, puzzles and games, which help students in finding solutions to open-ended problems. The techniques presented will produce students who are “thinkers” as well as “learners.”

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 18 – Creativity: Ideas and Innovation include the following content:

Investigate the factors that promote and inhibit creative thought and action.
Illustrate the possibilities that creative methods, processes, and theories can offer.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

CAP 315 – Advertising Copywriting
Practice in the copywriting process, from conception of ideas to finished copy for product and corporate advertising objectives.

CTH 300 – Storytelling
Exploration of stories and their possible uses through the oral tradition. Students will locate, create, and share stories as a reflection of culture; and engage in practical activities that will provide a plethora of ideas for understanding and using storytelling in multiple aspects of ones life.

ECO 342 – Strategic Games*
The basic principles of game theory are analyzed to provide insight into real world problems. Ability to construct simple games from actual situations and derive implications about expected behavior. Developing strategic responses for policy analysis and in response to competitor moves. Prerequisite: Completion of Mathematical Sciences Foundation requirement.

*Officially declared Seidman majors may register themselves for Seidman 300/400 level courses. Non-business and pre-business students who have prerequisites met before taking the Seidman 300/400 level course may e-mail their name, G Number, course, and semester for the course to go2gvbiz@gvsu.edu

EGR 304 – Innovation
An exploration of innovative techniques used in the developement of new products and systems. Applying idea generation techniques. Balancing divergent thinking with decision making. Recognizing and managing conditions and activities supportive of an innovative environment. Examining the benefits and risks of innovative behaviors. The nature of innovation and technological advancement.

LIB 310 – Creativity
An examination of human creativity and the nature of the creative process. Characteristics of the creative process in artistic and scientific endeavors.

MGT 345 – Team Building*
A class that integrates theory and application by teaching students how to be effective members of a work team. Emphasis on both logical and creative problem solving. Dynamics and processes within teams serve as the focus of analysis, learning, and practice.

SOC 346 – Sociology of Art
Explores the ways that public debates over art, aesthetics, and taste mask fundamental conflicts of culture, class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Examines controversies over the public funding of historical and contemporary cultural projects as well as the fluid boundaries between the taste for “high” and “popular” culture.

SPA 300 – Reading and Telling Stories
This course introduces some of the most important short story writers from Spain and Latin America of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is designed to aid students to develop reading strategies, as well as to become more skilled storytellers. Prerequisite: SPA 202.

WRT 219 – Introduction to Creative Writing
Introduction to the theory and practice of various forms of creative writing. Students write poetry, fiction, and drama, and also read literature in each genre. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

Theme 19: Perception

The title of the theme is Perception. The courses in the theme explore the relationship between perception and reality from scientific, philosophical, sociological, historical and cultural perspectives. This diversity demonstrates the importance of this issue across disciplines, and indeed, throughout time. From the ancient world to the modern, the relationship between reality and perception permeates nearly all academic disciplines as well as professional fields- and even everyday life. How we discern reality and adjudicate between competing interpretations arguably affects every decision a person makes. From the complex to the commonplace, the decisions that people make (or find forced upon them) involve a multitude of factors that shape perceptions, which in turn shape subsequent decisions. Perceptions obviously affect our lives in both deep and subtle ways. Our perceptions are influenced by personal and societal beliefs in science and religion, by private imagination and hopes, and by external social and natural forces, both known and unknown. Reality is thus both certain and uncertain, a negotiated process that depends on how we perceive, interpret, and express experience.

The central unity among the courses in this Theme is an exploration of how we construct through perception various conceptions of truth. More specifically, the theme explores the way in which beliefs, values, conceptual systems, historical, aesthetic and personal experience, physiology and physics influence the way individuals and groups see and understand the world. This Theme encourages critical reflection on many fixed conventional assumptions about knowledge and reality, and emphasizes a multiperceptual approach that reveals the dynamic complexity of knowledge and of knowledge formation as the result of an interaction between cognitive actors and external objects.

We assembled a wide array of courses from diverse disciplines. Some have specific substantive focus, such as HST 320 (American Indians). Others explore the connection between knowledge and truth from a broader perspective, such as PHI 440 (Epistemology) and PSY 361 (Perception). Each of the courses in the Theme contributes a different and valuable perspective to the central issue of perception and reality. We hope that this theme will inspire students to critically reflect on previously taken-for-granted notions and confront some illusions of dogma, hypocrisy, and the facile oversimplifications common in popular conjecture. By so doing, we hope this Theme will enhance the intellectual sophistication and breadth of awareness of these students, which will serve them in their own major, in their general education, and throughout their lives.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 19 – Perception include the following content:

To examine different ways by which perception occurs and how pre-existing knowledge affects the development of new knowledge.
To build a critical awareness of how we construct perceptions of reality in various contexts.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Goals:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

CLA 345 – Tradition and Reception
Study of specific classical authors or genres of classical literature or art and the ways they have been understood, adapted, and transformed in new cultural environments of later periods. The course may consider authors such as Sappho, Aristotle, and Virgil or genres such as epic, comedy, lyric, and temple architecture. May be repeated for credit when content varies. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

COM 320 – Vision and Culture
A historical survey of the evolving modes and techniques of vision, visuality, and representation in art, science, and mass media in order to examine how those modes of vision have both reflected and influenced our ways of knowing ourselves and the world.

HST 320 – American Indians
An examination of selected topics and peoples from among the diverse native American peoples north of Mexico, from the mythic beginnings to the modern era. Topics include problems of writing Indian history, ethnohistory, Indian-white relations, environmentalism, survival, assimilation, and Indian perspectives on American history. Prerequisite: HST 205 or HST 206 or 55 credits.

LIB 311 – Meaning
Introduction to concepts related to the construction, expression, proaganation, and understanding of meaning. Emphasis on critical, multidisciplinary perspectives with readings from different fields.

PHI 440 – Epistemology
What is knowledge? What is the relation of knower to known? How is knowledge distinguished from belief? What are the nature and ground of certainty? Varieties of objectivism and subjectivism, ancient and modern will be considered.

PHY 307 – Light and Sound
Much of our information about the world comes to us through light and sound. This course focuses on the creation, behavior, and perception of light and sound waves and concludes with the application of the wave concepts to electrons (the quantum description of matter). Format includes lecture and hands-on activities.

PSY 361 – Perception
Study of how humans organize and interpret simulation arising from objects in the environment. Review of theory, methodology, and research findings will be emphasized. Prerequisite: PSY 101 or PSY 201 or HNR 234.

Theme 20: American Mosaic

The American Mosaic Theme explores diversity in the U.S. A mosaic is a picture that is comprised of bits and pieces of colorful tiles – each piece contributing to the whole picture in a critical and unique way. Courses in the theme explore diversity in the United States by looking at the many different groups that make up our pluralistic nation. The U.S. has been a diverse society throughout its history. In recent decades and continuing today there is heightened consciousness about gender, religion, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability status. This Theme allows students to learn about groups who are different from themselves, thereby preparing them for future experiences in the workplace and as citizens. Theme classes also explore how specific social groups have evolved over time.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 20 – American Mosaic include the following content:

To examine the cultural, social, or economic composition of diverse groups in the United States.
To understand the histories, cultures, and contributions of the diverse groups which comprise U.S. culture.
To provide students an opportunity to compare their own experience with other groups in the United States.
Students will understand the unequal opportunities that different groups have experienced during U.S. history.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both SOC courses.

AAA 340 – African American Culture and Social Thought
Examines the cultural ties between Africans and African Americans, the historical and sociocultural context of African American cultural expression, and the defining dialogues, moments, and personages in African American culture and social thought.

ANT 311 – Peoples of Native North America
Examines diversity of indigenous cultures of North America from their origin and earliest historic and anthropological description. Using a comprehensive perspective, characteristics of various native cultures (life ways, beliefs, and customs) are explored and the current status of native peoples in the U.S. is evaluated. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

HST 315 – Latinos: Forging of Ethnic Identities
Examination of the ways in which Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, and others have over time created ethnic identities in the United States out of their transnational experiences. Also explores the impact of this process on American Political, economic, and social structures. Prerequisite: HST 206 or 55 credits.

LAS 475 – Latinos in West Michigan
Surveys the dynamic yet little-known world of Latinos in the region and guides students through a research project documenting their experiences, achievements, and challenges. Students learn and apply field research and interviewing skills to produce and present original reports on local Latino individuals and issues. Prerequisite: LAS 210 or 55 credits.

LIB 401 – Visionary American Thinker
A variable topics course that focuses on the life and work of a significant contributor to the American mosaic and thereby the United States’ vision of diversity. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

MUS 300 – Exploring American Music
Introduction to a variety of American musical styles drawn form many cultures, including Native American, African American, Latino, and European-American traditions. Topics may include folk music, religious music, Broadway, country, jazz, rock, and American classical music. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

SOC 381 – Class, Race, and Gender
The focus of this course is on the social, historical, and cultural meanings of class, race, and gender. Specifically, the intent of the course is to give students a better understanding of the interrelationship of class, race, and gender within the context of family, life, work, and schooling. Prerequisite: SOC 201 or SOC 280. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

SOC 420 – Sociology of Community
Examines sociology’s community studies tradition and concerns with the modern fate of close-knit, cohesive communities. Readings focus on the field’s intellectual origins, contrasts between small towns and cities, major theories, research methods, and contemporary communities. Prerequisites: STA 215 and (SOC 201 or GPY 220).

SW 300 – Pluralism and Cross Cultural Issues
Examines pluralism in American society through analysis of cross-cultural practices and values, with emphasis on the commonalties and differences among individuals, groups, organizations and communities. Groups are examined with regard to age, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, spirituality, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran and/or disability status, and the social welfare system.

US 201 – Diversity in the U.S.
Examines the multicultural nature of the United States. Focus is on the cultural heritage of the multiple racial groups in the U.S. and on multiculturalism as an issue. Students also study different conceptual ways of explaining relations between diverse groups of people. Fulfills U.S. Diversity requirement.

Theme 22: Sport and Life

Sports permeate all aspects of our media, economy, and educational institutions – our very culture. Thus, every academic discipline is in a position to offer insight into the role that sports play in societies. Indeed, the study of sport has long been a viable area of research, and sports scholars are on the cutting edge of their disciplines. The courses in this Theme help students learn the ways in which participation and appreciation of sports permeates all aspects of our individuality and our shared cultures.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 22 – Sport and Life include the following content:

To analyze sport in various contexts and over time.
To challenge and engage in the ethical and moral discussions surrounding sports.
To examine sports as an integral part of students’ lives and cultures.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines.

CAP 305 – Sports Promotion
Deals with sports promotion, sponsorship, and the lifestyle industry by studying the effect of media on sports, using critical analysis, and exploring communication theory. Emphasis on defining and applying communication concepts and strategies, including corporate motivation, to participate in sports sponsorship.

ECO 330 – Sports Economics*
Examination of economic issues pertaining to professional and collegiate sports, including analysis of industrial organization and antitrust issues, labor relations, discrimination, and the impact of franchises on local economies.

HST 325 – History of American Sports
Examines history of American sports, from folk games and blood sports to the modern era of professional sports. Explores impact of social, political, and economic changes upon development of America’s sporting culture. Prerequisite: Completion of Historical Perspectives Foundation requirement or 55 credits.

MKT 361 – Sports Marketing*
An examination of the unique marketing strategies within the sporting industry. The course will explore these strategies from a variety of stakeholder perspectives. A special emphasis on the local sporting scene which will include group and individual projects, case studies and field trips.

PED 315 – Sport in Society
Examines the role and influence of sport in society. Students explore social aspects in contemporary sport via examination of sport entertainment media and through participation in a corequisite sport course experience. Corequisite: Student must enroll in Movement Science PED 100 level individual or team sport activity course in the same semester.

PHY 306 – The Physics of Sports
Investigation of how the world around us behaves, and the physics behind various sporting activities. Course includes hands-on experiments as well as long-term research project.

STA 345 – Statistics and Sports
Application-oriented overview of statistical methodology that can be utilized to describe and evaluate performance of individuals and teams in sports. Emphasis on data collection, description statistics, and statistical inference and modeling used in sports statistics. Prerequisite: MTH 215 or MTH 312 or STA 312.

WRT 381 – Writing and Sports
Writing about sports in a range of different genres: journalism, creative writing, research writing, and opinion writing. Extensive reading about sports in various genres. Prerequisite: WRT 150 with a C or better, or equivalent.

Theme 23: Democracy

The historical roots of democracy extend to ancient Greece, but only since the mid-eighteenth century has it become a principle embraced by the masses and capable of sparking revolution. Moreover, what we think democracy means today in the United States often bears little resemblance to what it has meant in the past and what it currently means for other peoples around the globe. In fact, one might argue that Americans in the twenty-first century take democracy for granted and have little clear idea of what it entails or how it has shaped their politics, educational institutions, social relations, cultural values, economic practices, and legal system. These charges will not apply to students choosing the Democracy Theme, which explores the meanings of democracy and its far-ranging and often unanticipated consequences from various points of view.

Theme Goals:

All courses in Theme 23 – Democracy include the following content:

To explore the various definitions and concepts of democracies.
To examine the role of the individual in democracies.
To analyze the societal institutions that embody democratic ideals, for example, legal, economic, civic, scientific, and educational institutions.

Skill Goals:

All courses in a Theme use teaching methods that help students become more proficient in the following skills:

To engage in articulate expression through effective speaking.
To engage in articulate expression through effective writing.
To think critically and creatively.
To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple perspectives.

Theme Courses:

If you select this Theme, you must take three courses from three different disciplines. You CANNOT receive Theme credit for both PLS courses.

ECO 365 – Comparative Economic Systems*
Relative to such economic goals as economic freedom, consumer welfare, the equitable distribution of income, full employment, efficiency, growth, and security, how well do alternative politicaleconomic systems perform? This course studies contemporary evolving capitalist, communist, and post-communist systems in either East Asia, Europe, or Latin America. Prerequisite: ECO 200 or ECO 210.

*Officially declared Seidman majors may register themselves for Seidman 300/400 level courses. Non-business and pre-business students who have prerequisites met before taking the Seidman 300/400 level course may e-mail their name, G Number, course, and semester for the course to go2gvbiz@gvsu.edu

HST 318 – History of Democracy in America
Examines the historical development of democratic principles, ideologies, and practices in American history. Focuses on the range and limits of democracy in American History, debates among Americans over democracy and the practice of democracy in a variety of areas, including parties, voting, citizenship, and the presidency.

MTH 330 – The Mathematics of Voting and Elections
A study of voting, elections, and social choice from within the framework of mathematical modeling and problem solving. Topics include models of voter preference, election procedures, voting paradoxes, impossibly theorems, power indices, and referendum elections. Prerequisites: MTH 110 and WRT 150 with a c or better, or equivalent, and completion of the Mathematical Sciences Foundation.

PHI 335 – Philosophy and Democracy
Explores the idea of democracy within the context of a major philosophical tradition. Investigates the concept of democracy in such areas as social and political thought, educational theory, aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion.

PLS 306 – American Constitutional Law I
This course examines the constitutional foundations of the power relationship between the federal government and the states, among the three branches of the federal government, and between the government and the individual, with special emphasis given to the role of the Supreme Court in a democratic political system.

PLS 339 – Comparative Democratization
Seminar course assesses the theories and approaches used to explain the comparative politics of democratization. Focuses on democratic transition, consolidation, the social and institutional bases of democracy, and the role of individual choices in shaping democracy. Examines case studies of democratization in East Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. Prerequisites: PLS 102 or 55 credits.

Theme 24: Study Abroad

A long-term sojourn abroad requires an individual to think critically about the values, culture, and social expectations of the host country while reflecting intensively on their own values, cultural traditions, and social norms. Studying in another country for a significant period of time offers a unique, integrated experience that shapes a person’s perception of the world. While study abroad programs comprise varying academic curriculum, it is most common to find courses focusing on the history, literature, language and culture, business practices, political structures, economic issues, environmental issues, and other significant aspects of a particular host country. Though courses are pulled from varying academic disciplines, they all serve to explore a unifying theme - the host country’s society.

The Study Abroad Theme involves the study abroad experience as a way to complete your General Education Theme requirements. This Theme is designed for students who study abroad for one or two semesters, but may occasionally be approved for shorter-term programs.

Students must submit a proposal for a study abroad theme that is approved prior to departure on the program overseas. For information on the proposal/approval process, consult the Barbara H. Padnos International Center Web site www.gvsu.edu/pic or visit them at 130 Lake Ontario Hall.

Page last modified December 22, 2011