Society Courses
Only want to take one class with a focus on sustainability rather than a minor or major? You can still take a variety of courses within the curriculum that also count towards General Education Credit, Issues credit, or may be required within your major.
For updated information of course listings and descriptions visit the Course Catalog
Education
EDF 315 - Diverse Perspectives on Education
This course will introduce the historical, philosophical, and sociological foundations of education in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on the changing purposes of education historically, the legal and procedural expansion of schooling to an increasingly diverse student population, and the cultural competencies needed to teach all students effectively. Fulfills General Education Cultures - U.S. Diversity. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
EDF 316 - Global Perspectives on Education
Globalization is changing the purposes of education around the world, both increasing competition and enhancing global citizenship. This course will examine the interrelationship between sociocultural contexts and education in multiple countries, the impact of globalization on educational policies and practices, and global perspectives on these emerging challenges and opportunities. Fulfills General Education Cultures - Global Perspectives. Part of the Globalization Issue. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
EDF 325 - Learning from Detroit: Education and Community Revitalization
This course studies community revitalization efforts in the city of Detroit. Focusing on community-based initiatives that are strengthening neighborhoods, improving schools, and fostering the well-being of children, families, and neighborhoods in Detroit, this course invites students with diverse perspectives from across content areas. The class includes two visits to Detroit. Part of the Identity Issue. Cross-listed with IDS 325. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
EDF 485 - The Context of Educational Issues
This culminating education course will explore the context of contemporary educational issues. Students will analyze and critique current educational practices and policies and draw upon foundational perspectives in addressing such issues. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: EDI 430 or EDI 431 (may be taken concurrently).
EDF 672 - Social/Cultural Foundations of Education
Examines education as a social and cultural phenomenon. Explores the implications of this perspective on educational experience in general and the processes of teaching and learning in particular. Offered every semester.
EDF 675 - Cultural and Educational Foundations of Ecological Issues
The learner will develop an understanding of the intimate connection between social justice, environmental issues, and education through examination of the historical and philosophical foundations of Western culture and education and how these may undermine or enhance sustainable and equitable relations between humans and other living systems. Offered fall and summer semesters.
EDF 676 - Introduction to Place-Based Education
Place-based education is the process of using the local community and environment as the basis for curriculum and learning. This course will assist students in understanding the fundamental principles and practices of place-based education that nurture academic skills, strong ties to community, civic engagement, local-global connections, and sustainable practices. Offered winter and summer semesters.
EDF 677 - Citizenship, Activism, and Community Problem-Solving
Academic concepts learned in previous courses will be applied to address concrete social and environmental problems in real-world community contexts. Students will collaborate with community organizations, place-based education programs, or other initiatives to utilize their knowledge and skills in working with others to address issues specific to their place. Offered fall and summer semesters. Prerequisites: EDF 675 and EDF 676.
Philosophy
PHI 101 - Introduction to Philosophy
Inquiry into different perspectives on reality, reason, experience, and human excellence. Intensive reading of at least one classical text and its implications for life in the present. Fulfills General Education Foundations - Philosophy and Literature. Offered fall and winter semesters.
PHI 102 - Ethics
What is good? What is evil? Are there objective standards for right and wrong? What are these objective standards? How can they be applied to important contemporary moral problems? This course considers the answers philosophers give to these and related questions.
PHI 206 - Business, Value, and Trust: The Philosophy of Work
This course is an introduction to how enduring questions of philosophy thematically connect to issues of work, commerce, markets, and marketing. The course uses historical and contemporary texts along with case studies and examples to explore issues of meaning, value, knowledge, human nature, social and economic justice, identity, and freedom. Fulfills Foundation - Philosophy and Literature. Offered every semester.
PHI 302 - Environmental Justice
Environmental justice addresses environmental racism, inequity, and the broad disparities in how environmental benefits and burdens are distributed across communities. This course will provide an overview of the historical, conceptual, and practical dimensions of the environmental justice movement, and of the critical social and political thought at its core. Cross-listed with ENS 302. Offered fall and winter semesters.
PHI 320 - Power, Justice, and Freedom: Social and Political Philosophy
Analyzes the intellectual appropriation of the concept of freedom over time. Emphasis will be given to the dynamic interaction between freedom and social control in classics of Western philosophy from ancient times to modernity. Authors include Plato, Epicurus, Aristotle, Aurelius, Augustine, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Marx. Part of Human Rights Issue. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
PHI 325 - Ethics in Professional Life
Examination of ethical principles and practice in business, medicine, education, law, and government. This course aims to providing students with the intellectual framework for an ethical analysis of situations which arise within various professions. Also seeks to foster mutual understanding across professional lines. Part of the Human Rights Issue. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Political Science
PLS 102 - Issues in U.S. Politics
Examines American political values, governmental functions, political processes, policy issues, and decision-making processes through the lens of contemporary political issues, such as gun rights, abortion, education, policing, and the environment. Students will study the impact of diverse groups on the political process and outcomes. Fulfills General Education Foundations - Social and Behavioral Sciences. Fulfills General Education Cultures-U.S. Diversity. Offered every semester.
PLS 103 - Issues in World Politics
Analysis and discussion of contemporary issues in world politics as a vehicle for introducing core concepts in comparative politics, such as democracy, dictatorship, civil society, power, nationalism, political economy, social policy, identity politics, and development. Students will gain basic familiarity with the institutions, actors, and processes that influence world politics. Fulfills General Education Foundations - Social and Behavioral Sciences. Fulfills General Education Cultures - Global Perspectives. Offered fall and winter semesters.
PLS 105 - Introduction to Human Rights
Introduction to the historical and conceptual development of human rights as moral, legal, and cultural constraints on the behavior of states in relation to their citizens. Analysis is theoretical, exploring philosophical arguments surrounding the historical development of human rights and their current role in legal, cultural, literary and political products. Fulfills
Foundation - Philosophy and Literature. Offered fall and winter semesters. 3 cr
PLS 211 - International Relations
This introductory course in international relations (IR) examines interactions among states and non-state actors in the international environment. Class focuses on military, economic, ethnic, and religious conflict. Topics include power, organizations, nationalism, and economic integration. Major IR theories are exemplified by current topics, such as terrorism, poverty, trafficking, and climate change. Fulfills one of the Foundations - Social and Behavioral Sciences. Fulfills General Education Cultures - Global Perspectives. Offered fall and winter semesters.
PLS 301 - Poverty, Inequality, and U.S. Public Policy
This course examines poverty and inequality in the United States. Topics include definitions of poverty and inequality, historical trends, and policy responses. Diverse perspectives, including international comparisons, will be presented. Students will explore various dimensions of inequality through small group activities. Part of the Identity Issue. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
PLS 303 - Introduction to U.S. Environmental Policy
This course examines the decision-making processes to cope with modern environmental problems. The course focuses on both domestic and international environmental issues with special attention to interests, ideas, and institutions. Part of the Sustainability Issue. Cross-listed with ENS 303. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
PLS 310 - Politics and Health Policy
Explores contemporary issues in health policy and politics. Students will develop an understanding of the historical context, institutions, participants, and issues that structure health policy. Special emphasis on the politics of health care reform in the 1990s. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: PLS 102 or junior standing. 3 cr
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. Fulfills one of the Issues requirements. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: PLS 211 or junior standing. 3 cr
PLS 315 - International Political Economy
Analysis of the politics of international economic relations, with an emphasis on globalization, regional integration, trade, foreign investment, debt, and foreign aid. Prerequisite: One of PLS 211, ECO 210, or ECO 211.
PLS 316 - Human Rights in International Politics
An analysis of human rights as an increasingly influential principle in international relations, and the friction between sovereignty and international standards of behavior. Topics covered within class may include the theoretical origins of human rights, international norms, international law, sovereignty, interventionism, particularly viewed through historical and contemporary human rights cases. Cross-listed with HRT 316. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: PLS 103 or PLS 211 or junior standing.
Psychology
PSY 355 - Psychology and Culture
Exploration of the interaction between ecological and cultural variables and psychological processes. Topics include cultural influences on perception and cognition, personality, cognitive and social development, social relations, interpersonal and intergroup behavior, and psychopathology. Fulfills General Education Cultures - Global Perspectives. Offered every academic year. Prerequisite: PSY 101.
PSY 362 - Environmental Psychology
Study of the relationships between the physical environment, natural and human-made, and the behavior of human beings. The course focuses on the perceptual, cognitive, and motivational aspects of human-environmental interaction. Offered occasionally.
Sociology
SOC 222 - Humans in West Michigan Watersheds
This course examines human dimensions of watershed management through an exploration of applied social science survey data collected from landowners in West Michigan watersheds. Introductory statistical concepts are used to develop data-driven recommendations for managing human impacts on West Michigan water. Offered winter semester. Cross-listed with NRM 222 and ENS 222.
SOC 288 - Sociology of Food
This course introduces students to the sociological study of food and food systems. Students will analyze the historical development of food production and distribution, and social problems including hunger and disease. Students will also examine the evolution of ideas regarding food, health, values, and social identities. Offered on sufficient demand.
SOC 322 - 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. Fulfills General Education Cultures - U.S. Diversity. Part of the Identity Issue. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: SOC 101 and junior standing.
SOC 350 - Family and Gender in the Developing World
Explores the impact of economic change on families and gender roles in developing countries. Will include consideration of factors affecting family reproduction decisions, women in the formal and informal labor force, etc., and in-depth study of gender and family in one or more countries. Fulfills General Education Cultures - Global Perspectives. Part of the Identity Issue. Cross-listed with WGS 350. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: Junior standing.
SOC 351 - Urban Sociology
This class explores the major dynamics of urban areas, such as their change over time, the growth of suburbs, racial inequality, sustainability, and gentrification. Students will explore housing insecurity, race relations, environmental issues, and urban redevelopment as well as evaluate policy solutions to urban problems. Part of the Sustainability Issue. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
SOC 377 - Globalization: Structures and Movements
Examines and critiques the historical origins, economic and technological foundations, institutional arrangements, ideological underpinnings, collective movements, and controversial outcomes of "transnationalism" and "globalization." Sociological analysis emphasizes macrolevel institutions that shape globalization, social conflicts arising from its effects, and the consequences of global change on individuals, groups, and organizations. Part of the Globalization Issue. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Women and Gender Studies
WGS 302 - Women, Politics, and Public Policy
This course explores the ways that gender influences government and policy decisions. Students will explore many gendered issues and the relevant policy responses. Topics include domestic violence, reproductive policies, divorce and the family, marriage and the family, poverty, class, and compensation. Cross-listed with PLS 302. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: PLS 102 or junior standing.
WGS 334 - Sex, Power, and Politics
Explores the ways that gender identity and sexual orientation matter politically, intersect with race and class issues, and impact human flourishing. Examines these issues from a philosophical perspective, sets them in historical and contemporary political contexts, and investigates the role public policy and social norms play in the process. Part of the Identity Issue. Cross-listed with PLS 334. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
WGS 335 - Women, Health, and Environment
This course is an overview of contemporary women's health issues focusing on the interconnectedness 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. Part of the Sustainability Issue. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
WGS 350 - Family and Gender in the Developing World
Explores the impact of economic change on families and gender roles in developing countries. Will include consideration of factors affecting family reproduction decisions, women in the formal and informal labor force, etc., and in-depth study of gender and family in one or more countries. Fulfills General Education Cultures - Global Perspectives. Part of the Identity Issue. Cross-listed with SOC 350. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: Junior standing.