Catalog Number: COR 151

Suffix: CR, CI

Gen Ed Substitute For: Creative Expression, Creative Production

Instructor: Leslie Robison

Literacy: Creativity

Value Pathway: Citizenship with Integrity

Description: Because creating positive change in our world requires a sustained and collaborative effort on the part of the citizenry, those interested in progress must coordinate individual efforts and work together as a community. This Creativity skill course within the Citizenship With Integrity value pathway emphasizes how citizens can be active political agents even without holding office. Whether citizens want to petition the government, amplify marginalized voices, or challenge existing ideologies, they must work together or coordinate efforts and apply creative solutions. The course Crafting Democracy focuses on how art, and craft, in particular, has played a role in historical movements and how it continues to do so. This class will exemplify creative community by teaching and learning various craft skills, including embroidery and calligraphy, and by using these skills to visually support the issues we care about.  

Catalog Number: COR 163

Suffix: SC, RI

Gen Ed Substitute For: Study of Culture, Language

Instructor: Aggie Johnson

Literacy: Social & Cultural Inquiry

Value Pathway: Respectful and Inclusive Community

Description: With an ever-growing number of speakers at home and abroad, Spanish is now the second most spoken language after Mandarin. This course is designed for students who have not previously studied Spanish or have no practical command of the language. It is an introduction to the college-level study of the Spanish language and culture. We will use an interactive textbook and an innovative pedagogy that focuses on project-based learning that motivates students by making a real-world connection and fosters the ability to communicate across different Hispanic cultures and the world beyond.  

Catalog Number: COR 134

Suffix: SS, TL

Gen Ed Substitute For: Ways of Knowing

Instructor: Lauren Bates

Literacy: Social Scientific Inquiry

Value Pathway: Transformative Learning

Description: Academic success often entails managing and mastering multiple courses covering a variety of topics, each with its own unique requirements. Given these demands, the need to study and learn effectively is part-and-parcel of the life of any student. However, what methods entail studying effectively versus ineffectively?  For example, is learning based on the amount of time a student spends studying? Is highlighting an effective method of learning?  Is it better to study by reviewing notes or to test yourself? In this course, we are going to pose questions about studying and discuss the answers that have been uncovered through scientific research on human memory.

Catalog Number: COR 183

Suffix: ER, RI

Gen Ed Substitute For: Ways of Knowing

Instructor: Anne DeMartini

Literacy: Ethical Reasoning

Value Pathway: Respectful and Inclusive Community

Description: Sport both reflects society and helps shape it. Ethical questions concern judgments of right and wrong, good and bad, as well as matters of justice, fairness, virtue, and social responsibility. This course will address these complex concepts through the lens of sports.

The course will explore questions such as: what is fair play and being a good sport? are college athletes exploited? are separate gender divisions justified? is violence in sport acceptable? what forms of performance enhancers cross the line? should we ban sports that harm players?

Students will articulate different theoretical approaches, identify the potential benefits and drawbacks of each approach, and defend reasoned viewpoints regarding these ethical issues.

Catalog Number: COR 111

Suffix: OC, CI

Gen Ed Substitute For: Speech Communication

Instructor: Sandra Gehring

Literacy: Oral Communication

Value Pathway: Citizenship with Integrity

Description: Contemporary society approaches speech as an ethically charged activity practiced in civic and professional contexts. In this new Public Speaking In Contemporary Society course, students will develop communication skills that invite transformation of both speaker and audience. As a speaker, an audience member, and/or an engaged participant, the students will learn to negotiate their own role in the contemporary public space as they take responsibility for the on-going/evolving community discussion. This course will help them contribute to the community discussion by studying, attending, and speaking about local history, local issues, and solutions to local social problems. In this course, students will learn how to tailor messages to different audiences across all contexts. The course will culminate in group work to produce oral performances toward social justice as either an interpersonal presentation or a podcast.

Catalog Number: COR 174

Suffix: HI, TL

Gen Ed Substitute For: Western History

Instructor: Jessica Howell

Literacy: Historical Inquiry

Value Pathway: Transformative Learning

Description: This class is an experiment. The goal of this class is to spend the semester collectively exploring two opposing sides of a narrowly focused historical subject from the beginning (asking thoughtful historical questions and gathering information) to end (presenting your research findings to an audience) in order to gain a better understanding of the methods and skills utilized in a rigorous historical process. Russian history will serve as the historical subject of the class.

Catalog Number: COR 182

Suffix: ER, TS

Gen Ed Substitute For: Ways of Knowing

Instructor: Brenda Kaufmann

Literacy: Ethical Reasoning

Value Pathway: Thoughtful Stewardship

Description: This course will examine what it means to live responsibly on planet earth. It will consider what if any obligations or ethical considerations we might have to people and the planet now and for future generations.  What food can we ethically eat? Where should we get our clothes? Should we give up traveling by air to reduce carbon dioxide emissions? Should governments have relations with nations that consistently violate their people's human rights? How can we have productive conversations about issues of environmental sustainability, animal rights, human rights, and economic inequality when there are conflicting ideas about them? In this class, we will evaluate the arguments and debate the various theoretical approaches and identify the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Catalog Number: COR 163

Suffix: SC, RI

Gen Ed Substitute For: Ways of Knowing A (Social, Behavioral, Philosophical Inquiry)

Instructor: Timothy Johnson

Literacy: Social and Cultural Inquiry

Value Pathway: Respectful and Inclusive Community

Description: In 2007, Time Magazine wrote that the Bible, “has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled and shows no signs of abating.” No wonder then that the first book to come off of Johnannes Guttenberg’s press was the Bible and it remains the best-selling book ever and ubiquitous online. This book boldly claims to encompass the expanse of cosmic history, from the creation of the universe to its apocalyptic finale, thus providing a linear view of time that still permeates American culture. Despite the cultural forces it unleashes, the ethical questions it engages, the political perspectives it provides, and the religious imagination it inspired, few people have more than a fleeting knowledge of the Bible. This course entails a close reading of selected sections of the Bible, accompanied by a critical analysis of social and cultural forces that shaped them and their multiple interpretations today.

Catalog Number: COR 144

Suffix: QR, TL

Instructor: Chris Kao

Gen Ed Substitute For: Mathematics

Literacy: Quantitative Reasoning

Value Pathway: Respectful and Inclusive Community, Transformative Learning

Description: It cannot be disputed that mathematics has long been an important subject supplemental to more practical fields of natural sciences, engineering, economics, and finance. However, as a subject on its own, mathematics transcends beyond the tedious and mindless exercises and seemly contrived applications from textbooks. Moreover, modern mathematics is bustling with activities in research. In this course, we will provide a first glance at some of the most famous open math problems in the 21st century. You will have a chance to think about mathematics creatively without the burden of mindless exercises. You will also be able to learn to do basic literature reviews in mathematics.

Catalog Number: COR 181

Suffix: ER, CI

Gen Ed Substitute For: Ways of Knowing

Instructor: 

Literacy: Ethical Inquiry

Value Pathway: Citizenship with Integrity

Description: We live in a world ruled by algorithms – by computers and those who design them. Social media, artificial intelligence, commercial surveillance affect our lives every day. Soon there will be more, with everything from self-driving cars to “friend bots” for the elderly.  Our task is to understand the implications of this fact for our society and our future. Will the objectivity of computers remove the worst of our human failings, or will it reproduce and amplify them? How does the power of technology affect the poor who have less access to it? What does artificial intelligence say about humanity as a whole? Are we ultimately just machines, ourselves?  In this class we will think about technology from the human side, using philosophy and science.