2020-2021 University Catalog 
    
    Apr 28, 2024  
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2020-2021 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

 

Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
  

  • MIST 251 - Living Egypt (Extended Study)

    This extended study course concentrates on giving students a sense of the many layers and elements that make up living Egypt, the land and its people today. This requires a sense of both history and language, as well as a wide-ranging (if eclectic) understanding of the lived experience of the people. Thus, the class studies cultural aspects such as food and music, as well as historical and political issues. The course includes a three-week trip to Egypt, which exposes students to the actual environment in which all of these aspects come together. Please note that ancient Egypt is discussed only in the context of its effect on Egyptians today; this is not an appropriate course for students who expect to learn a lot about archaeology and Egyptology.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: ARAB 121  or ARAB 122  or 201 (may be taken concurrently)
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 252 - Muslim Societies in Motion

    How have contemporary global markets, media, and mobility fueled a worldwide Islamic revival? Has expanded access to public schooling and digital media among ordinary Muslims challenged state power and authority—or enhanced it? If pious Muslims rejected Islam’s mystical (Sufi) traditions in the twentieth century, why are many embracing these traditions today? This course poses and answers such questions by exploring Muslim-majority societies across time and place, emphasizing the changing technologies, institutions, practices, and identities that bind them. Major historical topics addressed include Islam’s foundational texts and interpretive traditions, colonial modernity and market capitalism, the rise of nation-states and national identities, and contemporary globalization. Major social-cultural topics include changing media technologies and access, current Islamic revivalism and Islamic feminist movements, gender and sexuality, knowledge and power, and secularism and non-Muslim religious minorities.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: ANTH 252  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Seniors
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 253 - Aspects of Contemporary Arab Societies: Morocco (Extended Study)

    This extended study course aims at introducing students to the dynamics and development of a contemporary Arab society through engaging critically with academic sources on campus and an on-site living experience. It provides students a sense of the many layers and elements of selected aspects of Moroccan society on both theoretical and practical levels. It includes a three-week extended study in Morocco, which is designed to give the students a unique opportunity to reflect on the society utilizing the program’s language study, homestay experience, cross-cultural orientation, lectures, and excursions. Students learn how to apply the practical knowledge, the skills, and the daily experience they gain during their visit, to have a better understanding of the country from the locals’ standpoints while simultaneously comparing and relating it to their own Colgate academic perspectives and personal perspectives as citizens of the world. Students must complete both the on-campus component and the extended study component of the course in order to earn credit for the course.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: ARAB 122  or higher. ARAB 122  may be taken concurrently.
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 262 - Islam in Our Post-9/11 World

    The September 11th attacks left an indelible mark on both American political discourse and the experiences of Muslim communities across the globe. This course asks: how should we conceptualize the relationship between Islam and the West in our post-9/11 world? Together, we will explore the history and ideas behind contemporary headlines in an effort to understand the roots of Islamist violence, American foreign policy towards Muslim-majority countries, Muslim debates over the future of their faith, and popular discourse on Islam in the West. We will look at a wide range of sources and perspectives in order to tackle these difficult but exceedingly relevant issues.

    Credits: 1
    Crosslisted:   
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 291 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 304 - Islam and Politics

    Studies the impact of the Islamic resurgence on international and intra-national politics. The course begins with an introduction to the Islamic faith. Students explore the origins of the Islamic resurgence, the ideas of influential Islamic political thinkers, and Islamic movements in comparative perspective (Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, the United States, and France). The class concludes by examining two issues of great contemporary importance: the impact of Islam on democracy and the future relationship between the Islamic world and the West.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: POSC 304 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 305 - Geopolitics of the Middle East

    Focuses on episodes in modern history when events in the Middle East have had geopolitical consequences. Students examine how things happening “over there” have repercussions (or generate concerns about repercussions) in the international system of states as a whole. In order to pay close attention to the systemic effects of events in the Middle East, case studies privilege the moments in between major wars that shook the region. Of necessity, the course focuses extensively on the period known as “The Cold War.” Analyses are organized around the careers of three fluids: oil, water, and blood. The first two are quite “dear” in the Middle East and have organized entire political economies. The evidence would suggest that the third has not been considered as precious, particularly by the great powers and would-be hegemons of the modern era.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: GEOG 305  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No First-year
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • MIST 351 - The Israel/Palestine Conflict

    Focuses on the longstanding struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as on the history of the way the conflict has been defined (e.g., an Arab-Israeli conflict, a religious war between Jews and Muslims, etc.). The course profiles episodes in the history of the conflict–and of the efforts to resolve it–in light of contemporary developments across the globe. The war of 1948 is analyzed in light of decolonization struggles following WWII, just as the “Six-Day War” of 1967 is studied in light of Cold War politics. In addition to focusing on flashpoints in the history of the conflict, the course also examines international agendas for ending it. Repeated US efforts to broker a peace are analyzed in light of geopolitical developments elsewhere. Students will become well-versed in the historical and social developments of the conflict and study the various treaties, armistice agreements, and memoranda that have guided efforts to bring it to a conclusion. They also study outstanding issues in the contest between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as current peace and armistice proposals.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PCON 351 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No First-year
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 391 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MIST 491 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Museum Studies
  

  • MUSE 120 - Making the Mummies Dance: Introduction to Museum Studies

    Introduces students to the rich interdisciplinary array of historical, theoretical, and practical topics that comprise this fast-growing field. Major themes include the history of museums from cabinets of curiosity to the Museum of Modern Art; the post-colonial critique of museums; and the practical aspects of museum management, education, and curating.

    Credits: 1
    Crosslisted: HIST 120
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSE 201 - Museum Curating in the Digital Age

    Examines how advancements in digital technologies (e.g. 3D scanning, VR, online collections searches, digital publishing) have impacted the discourse, methods, and practices of museum curating. Through weekly readings and discussions, students engage critically with questions surrounding the use of digital technologies for enhancing museum exhibitions, collection access, and visitor engagement in twenty-first century museums, while developing an understanding of the practical implications of curating for both physical and virtual audiences. Students apply this knowledge while conducting research on objects from University collections, writing interpretive texts, and designing digital resources. Students are responsible for curating a digital exhibition together, based on the exhibition at the Picker Art Gallery and evaluating the needs of the museum to propose, develop, and prototype a digital curatorial project.

    Credits: 1.0
    Prerequisites:   or   or   or   or   
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSE 300 - Museum Curating

    Examines historic and contemporary curatorial methods while exploring ways to apply these methods appropriately in the development of a current exhibition. Students build on their understanding of the theoretical and ethical issues in museums while engaging with the practical challenges confronted by museum curators, such as complicated museum legacies, curatorial voice, collaboration, and accessible design. Students apply this knowledge while conducting object-based research, designing displays, and writing interpretive texts.

    Credits: 1
    Prerequisites: ARTS 120 or HIST 120 or ARTS 370 or ANTH 300 None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Music

Course classifications:

History and Appreciation (H&A)
Performance (PF)
Theory (TH)
  

  • MUSI 101 - The Beatles

    In the sixties, the Beatles revolutionized popular music. This course is an in-depth study of the music of the Beatles with a focus on songwriting. The goals are to learn how to analyze their songs, to gain insights into their music and lyrics, to understand why they were so successful and to think critically about music. Issues of the significance of rock on the culture and history of the sixties are also discussed.

    Credits: 1.00
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 103 - Basic Music and Songwriting (TH)

    Introduces students to the fundamental elements of music theory through performance, songwriting, and analysis. While focusing primarily on Western art music (“classical music”), popular song, and jazz, these broad categories represent the roots of many specific genres. Consequently, the practical techniques learned can be applied to many styles. In addition to written and aural assessments, students will perform keyboard hearings and compose several short pieces, culminating in the composition of an original song. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: Students who have taken private lessons or have high school music performance experience should take MUSI 203 .
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 111 - The History of Rock (H&A)

    Rock is a dominant force, a phenomenon. It began as the language of youth and grew to its present centrality. This music course examines innovative songs and artists, primarily from the `50s through the `70s, the era of classic rock. The goals of the course are to broaden students’ knowledge of rock history for this period, to gain insights into the music and lyrics, to learn how to listen and analyze music, and to think critically. Since rock reflected 20th-century society, broad issues of culture, art, and history are also discussed. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 141 - Traditions of Catholic Music (H&A)

    A survey of liturgical and paraliturgical music of the Roman Catholic tradition from c. 800 A.D. to present times, considered from purely musical but also liturgical and theological perspectives. Students learn to distinguish by ear plainchant, classic polyphony, operatic-symphonic, and popular idioms (including some of non-western cultures) as well as the history of each. The course also covers the principal liturgies of the Roman rite and some of the more important 20th-century legislation regarding liturgical music. This is an 8-week course. (H&A)

    Credits: 0.25
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 151 - The Musical Experience (H&A)

    This introductory course is designed to acquaint the listener with some of the masterpieces of Western classical music from the Renaissance to the present and to develop an awareness of the role of musical elements, such as melody and orchestration, in the works studied. While it is not expected that students have played an instrument or read music, the course does attempt to develop some skills in score reading and notation. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: May not be taken after a 200-level course has been completed.
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 161 - The History of Jazz (H&A)

    A study of American jazz from 1920 to the present, through readings, intensive study of recordings, and class lectures. Several topics are studied in depth: listening skills, the quality of swing, group interaction, the development of solo improvisation, the blues, and the evolution of jazz performance practice. Important composers, bands, and soloists are highlighted, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and the Miles Davis groups. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 203 - Harmony I (TH)

    An introduction to the harmonic language of Bach, Beethoven and the Beatles. Students learn to make basic chords and coordinate them with melodies to create sensible progressions in all keys. The course includes ear-training skills. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: Students considering a major or minor in music should take this course as soon as possible. 
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 204 - Harmony II (TH)

    A continuation of Harmony I. The first part of the course is an intensive review of harmonic principles that develops greater fluency with them. The second part covers chromatic harmony and completes the chord grammar begun in Harmony I. The third part applies all the harmonic principles in an extensive analysis of a major composition such as a Beethoven symphony. Laboratory time devoted to ear training is required as in Harmony I. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: MUSI 203  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 205 - Popular Songwriting Workshop

    A study of the compositional techniques employed in popular songwriting with the goal of writing three fully formed original works that combine music and lyrics. The course will cover pop introductions, endings, standard popular chord progressions, melodic construction, forms & structure, and lyric writing. In addition to various composition assignments, activities include analysis of classic and contemporary pop songs by Ed Sheeran, John Legend, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and others. Students must be able to read and write music as well as possess knowledge of basic chord structures and major and minor scales. The mid-term and final projects will be performed and recorded at a basic demo level. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: Performance Experience Required
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 208 - Jazz Theory and Improvisation (PF)

    Offers the study of basic jazz theory and its application in jazz improvisation. Topics include chord/scale relationships, musical line construction and development, jazz as a language, tension and release techniques, analysis of transcribed solos recorded by jazz masters, ear training, and jazz phrasing. Students play in class and practice outside of the classroom with pre-recorded rhythm section tracks. Theoretical material and several jazz compositions are memorized with students learning to play this material from memory on their instruments. Exams include written and performance segments. It is expected that enrolling students can read music and have played their instrument for at least three years. Open to wind, string, and keyboard musicians. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: Previous completion of MUSI 203  is recommended.
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 215 - Music History I: Medieval through Baroque Periods (H&A)

    A survey of music history from Gregorian chant to Bach and Vivaldi. Music is studied both by itself and within its contemporary social context. Major genres, styles, and techniques of musical composition are discussed in both analytical and historical perspectives, through the study of representative works. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • MUSI 216 - Music History II: Classic through Modern Periods (H&A)

    A survey of music history from the era of Mozart and Beethoven to the present. Major genres, styles, and techniques of musical composition are discussed in both analytical and historical perspectives, and alongside contemporary social, political, and artistic trends. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • MUSI 217 - Chamber Music I (PF)

    The Colgate Chamber Players (strings, pianists, winds) explore and perform a diverse chamber music repertoire in 4-5 yearly concerts, both on and off campus. A bi-yearly concert tour features series concerts, outreach activities and repertoire research. Unless separated by off-campus study, two consecutive terms are required for a student to receive a single credit. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 220 - Digital Music Studio (TH)

    A workshop class that provides an introduction to the modern digital studio. Students learn mixing and signal processing techniques in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), analog and digital synthesis, and the mastering process to develop skills in writing, recording, and editing digital music to meet current industry standards. In addition to creating original tracks, students are assessed on studio terminology and their ability to identify common audio routing techniques in the work of other musicians, producers, and engineers. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 221 - World Music (H&A)

    A study of music as a cultural phenomenon. The course examines how music relates to many aspects of life, identifies social classes, embodies political issues, shapes ceremonial practices and creates cultural identity. Students attend extra musical events during the term and complete listening assignments. No musical experience is necessary. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • MUSI 230 - University Orchestra I (PF)

    The 68-member student and professional orchestra offers four major concerts on the music department concert series every year. With the same wide-ranging repertoire of any major urban professional orchestra students learn about the works technically, stylistically, and historically. To earn credit, a student must take two consecutive terms. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 232 - Colgate Concert Jazz Ensemble I (PF)

    The ensemble introduces basic elements of jazz improvisation (blues) and includes interaction with nationally and internationally recognized guest artists. Students perform works by the top contemporary jazz writers as well as classic charts from the standard big band repertoire including Bob Mintzer, Thad Jones, Shelly Berg, Bill Holman, Sammy Nestico, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Participation in two consecutive terms is required in order to receive a single credit. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 234 - University Chorus I (PF)

    A performance course in choral music. The University Chorus rehearses and performs the choral masterworks, often with an accompanying guest orchestra. Unless separated by off-campus study, two consecutive terms are required in order to receive a single credit. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 236 - Private Instruction I (PF)

    Private study in voice or musical instruments is offered to advanced students. The course consists of one-hour lessons each week during the term and may include a public performance. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: Student must have been studying at Colgate with their studio instructor for at least two semesters before applying to take lessons for credit. Proposal required. 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 238 - Music Concert Tour (Extended Study)

    One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of studying and performing music is understanding the historical and cultural context, particularly that of music composed several hundred years ago. This extended study offers an opportunity to gain deeper understanding of the historical and cultural context of the course subject material primarily through rehearsals and performances in the region(s) where the composers lived and worked. Students become deeply and intimately engaged in the course subject material by performing it numerous times and continually refining their work for varied performance venues. Additionally, students participate in lectures and visits to historical/cultural sites to further connect the music being performed to the region of origin. Varying topics & destinations. All students must participate in the ensemble throughout the semester immediately preceding the extended study.

    Credits: 0.25
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: Participation in ensemble for the two semesters immediately preceding the extended study, unless separated by off-campus study
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 245 - Composition (TH)

    Students will learn to compose for acoustic instruments. Through a survey of 20th-century repertoire ranging from Stravinsky to Leonard Bernstein to John Williams and beyond, students will discover what makes a melody memorable, the expressive power that can be drawn from harmony, and essential post-tonal idioms that have resonated with audiences in the concert hall and the cinema. Over the course of the semester, students will explore these techniques by composing several short pieces before composing a complete work for chamber ensemble. These pieces are then performed in a public concert at the end of the semester. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: MUSI 103  or MUSI 203  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • MUSI 291 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • MUSI 301 - Criticizing Music (TH)

    Can music be evaluated (criticized) rationally and objectively? After a review of traditional harmonic theory, the course covers critical theories of the 20th century, which students then apply to compositions of Western masters ranging from Bach to Brahms in order to test their claims. The course concludes with students’ own critical evaluations of an important composition. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: MUSI 204  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 302 - Composition in Historical Styles (TH)

    In this course, students study music history by trying to imitate the composers that made the history. During the term, students complete a Renaissance motet, a fugue in the style of Bach, a sonata movement in the style of Mozart, and a prelude in the style of Chopin. (TH)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: MUSI 204  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 311 - The Arts in Venice during the Golden Age (Venice Study Group) (H&A)

    The republic of Venice offers a special opportunity to study the interaction of the various fine arts that flowered simultaneously at the peak of one of Europe’s greatest cultural centers. The course examines artistic achievements of the Renaissance and early Baroque ages (ca. 1400-1700), chiefly in architecture and music. Students make frequent excursions to exemplary churches and palazzi, may attend local concerts, and learn to sing some Italian Renaissance music. Major credit requires permission of the department. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: ARTS 311  
    When Offered: Venice Study Group

    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 313 - The Italian Opera Tradition (Study Group) (H&A)

    After an introduction to the principles of music drama, this course concentrates on operas representative of all important periods of the Italian tradition. The composers include Monteverdi, Mozart, and Verdi. The remaining operas studied are determined according to what is offered in the opera houses in and around Venice during a particular season. (H&A)

    Credits: 1.00
    When Offered: Venice Study Group

    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • MUSI 317 - Chamber Music II (PF)

    The Colgate Chamber Players (strings, pianists, winds) explore and perform a diverse and rich chamber music repertoire in 4-5 yearly concerts, both on and off campus. A bi-yearly concert tour features series concerts, outreach activities and repertoire research. Unless separated by off-campus study, two consecutive terms are required for a student to receive a single credit. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • MUSI 330 - University Orchestra II (PF)

    The 68-member student and professional orchestra offers four major concerts on the music department concert series every year. With the same wide-ranging repertoire of any major urban professional orchestra students learn about the works technically, stylistically, and historically. To earn credit, a student must take two consecutive terms. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 332 - Colgate Concert Jazz Ensemble II (PF)

    The ensemble introduces basic elements of jazz improvisation (blues) and includes interaction with nationally and internationally recognized guest artists. Students perform works by the top contemporary jazz writers as well as classic charts from the standard big band repertoire including Bob Mintzer, Thad Jones, Shelly Berg, Bill Holman, Sammy Nestico, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Participation in two consecutive terms is required in order to receive a single credit. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 334 - University Chorus II (PF)

    A performance course in choral music. The University Chorus rehearses and performs the choral masterworks, often with an accompanying guest orchestra. The Chamber Singers, an advanced 18-voice chamber choir, is selected from the University Chorus membership and focuses on the rehearsal and performance of a cappella repertoire. Unless separated by off-campus study, two consecutive terms are required in order to receive a single credit. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Audition required
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 336 - Private Instruction II (PF)

    Private study in voice or musical instruments is offered to advanced students. The course consists of one-hour lessons each week during the term and may include a public performance. (PF)

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: Student must have been studying at Colgate with their studio instructor for at least two semesters before applying to take lessons for credit. Proposal required. 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 391 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 470 - Senior Seminar

    Offered as an independent study, this course is required for honors or high honors in music. Taken in the senior year, study may be in whatever the student and faculty adviser regard as the student’s major musical strength.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • MUSI 491 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Native American Studies
  

  • NAST 243 - Native American History

    Typically, American history is told from the perspective of European colonizers, with the story beginning on the east coast and expanding west across the continent. How does American history look different when we reverse this perspective and put the continent’s original people at the center of the story? What has been the experience of America’s Indigenous people, both before and after European contact? And why is this history essential for understanding the world we live in today? With these questions in mind, students will examine the history of indigenous peoples in what is now the United States from 1492 to the present day. Particular focus will be placed on Native Americans’ history of adaptation and resilience in the face of European and American colonialism.

    Credits: 1
    Crosslisted: HIST 243
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 291 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 300 - Continuity in Pueblo Communities

    Focusing on the words from people within the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, this course introduces students to the Pueblo worldview. Students listen to a variety of voices–poets, storytellers, educators, artists–as they seek to understand interdependence, complementarity, and the vital interconnections across past and present that are held within specific places. As preparation for the Santa Fe study group, this course also enables students to prepare for their service learning work in the pueblos or at the Santa Fe Indian School.

    Credits: 0.25
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 301 - Native American Women

    Focuses on women’s leadership, historically as well as currently, in American Indian nations. Indigenous women have been at the forefront of language revitalization programs, elder care, environmental justice movements, and native health and wellness initiatives. Each time the course is taught, it may take up a different facet of women’s leadership. Through readings, guest lectures, and informal conversations with women from different Native communities, students engage the many-layered complexities at work in the long histories of colonialism.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 302 - Contemporary Issues in the Native American Southwest (Study Group)

    Focuses on various issues facing Native American communities of the Southwest today, in particular the Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache peoples. Areas explored in the course include cultural expression, sovereignty, land claims, environmental protection, education, healthcare systems, religious rights, and economic development, among others.

    Credits: 1.00
    When Offered: Santa Fe Study Group

    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No First-year
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 302L - Contemporary Issues in the Native American Southwest: Community-Based Learning (Study Group)

    Taught in conjunction with NAST 302  on the Santa Fe Study Group, students participate in service learning programs in Cochiti or Tesuque Pueblo or at the Santa Fe Indian School. The Study Group Director arranges service placement in consideration of student interest and Pueblo needs and desires for assistance.  Service learning opportunities have included projects in sustainable farming, land and animal management, law, health and wellness, elder care, and education from preschool through high school. Students work two days per week in the selected program and meet as a bi-weekly seminar and individually with the instructor to discuss their work in the pueblos.

    Credits: 0.50
    When Offered: Santa Fe Study Group

    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 303 - Service Learning in the Native American Southwest (Study Group)

    Taught on the Santa Fe Study Group as an alternative to 302/302L. Students participate in service projects in Cochiti or Tesuque Pueblo or at the Santa Fe Indian School according to their own interests and Pueblo needs and desires for assistance. Community learning opportunities have included projects in sustainable farming, land and animal management, law, health and wellness, elder care, and education from preschool through high school. Students work two days per week in the selected program and meet as a bi-weekly seminar and individually with the instructor to discuss their work in the pueblos.

    Credits: 1.00
    When Offered: Santa Fe Study Group

    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 304 - Contemporary Issues in Native American Studies

    Focuses on various issues facing Native American communities today. Areas explored include cultural identity, sovereignty, land claims, environmental protection, education, healthcare systems, religious rights, commercialization of sacred imagery, and economic development, among others. Students may explore these issues with a particular regional focus, or consider how Native American artists or activists address them.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 313 - Southwest Native Arts and Culture

    This course is concerned with the ongoing, and longstanding, debates concerning native art in the American southwest. What “authenticates” “Indian art” and why does it “need” such authentication? How do the older divisions separating “craft” and “art” intersect with the current issues facing individuals whose life work is now linked to the marketing of the arts? Where do definitions of “traditional” and “contemporary” compete with each other, and where do they prove complementary? Over the semester, students consider a wide range of media: traditional pottery, contemporary clay sculpture, metalsmithing, drum making, weaving, dance, music, painting, and theater.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 320 - In the Courts of the Conqueror: Native American Religious Freedom

    Explores the role of native peoples in the creation and ongoing development of modern law. It begins with an investigation of the use of native peoples as a representation of human savagery within early modern European political thought — a representation that allowed political theorists to depict law as a solution to such savagery. More recently, and more positively, it explores the important role that indigenous peoples have played in the propagation of religious free exercise rights and international human rights law. Focusing particularly on the legal negotiation of Native religious practices in the US, this course encourages students to think critically about some of the most basic tenets and mechanisms of modern secular law.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: RELG 320  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 356 - Global Indigenous History

    Indigenous communities exist throughout the world, but rarely is their history approached in global terms. What does “indigenous” mean, and how does world history look different when approached from the perspective of indigenous people? How does such an approach change the way we think about our national stories, and why does that matter? With these questions in mind, students explore the history of indigenous peoples from around the world, including communities in the United States, Latin America, Pacific island nations, Canada, and Australia. By examining these diverse people’s experiences with outside colonization from the 15th century to the present, students are offered new perspectives on ongoing histories of colonialism, resistance, adaptation, and cultural resilience.

    Credits: 1
    Crosslisted:   
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • NAST 360 - Borderlands of North America

    Instead of looking at history from the vantage of national centers, borderlands history focuses on the complicated places where empires, nations, and Indigenous peoples have collided, converged, and overlapped over time. Borderlands were—and continue to be—perplexing places, where national identities and boundaries often held little sway, and where marginalized peoples sought to forge new paths. A focus on borderlands has the power to change our perspective on the history of North America, and to lend insight into the complex politics that define the border up to the present day, including heated debates over migration and the building of border walls. With this in mind, students examine the history of Indigenous, U.S.-Mexican, U.S-Canadian, and imperial borderlands from the 16th through the 21st centuries, including their political, social, and environmental dimensions. (TR)

    Credits: 1
    Crosslisted: HIST 360
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • NAST 391 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 490 - Honors in Native American Studies

    Students pursuing honors in Native American Studies enroll in this course.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NAST 491 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Natural Science
  

  • NASC 110 - Singapore, Science, and the Life Aquatic (Study Group)

    This fractional credit course serves as the foundational experience for the Singapore Study Group. The course introduces students to the rich culture and history of Singapore, provides discussions about the unique geographic setting, and examines the role of science, technology and engineering in the growth and future of Singapore. This course will be taught primarily in the three weeks leading up to the beginning of the term at the National University of Singapore (NUS) with reflection on the themes continuing throughout the study group, and concluding during reading week at NUS.

    Credits: 0.50
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NASC 150 - Math and Music

    Students take an analytical look at the music system we know. For example, how exactly is a middle-C note defined? Why does a C-note sound different on a piano and a guitar? Why are there 12 notes in an octave, and what is the spacing between the notes? What happens if we change this space? Students investigate and answer these and many more questions. They also explore some mathematical rubrics for creating music.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NASC 291 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NASC 391 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NASC 491 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Neuroscience
  

  • NEUR 170 - Introduction to Neuroscience

    In this introduction to the neuroscience major, relationships between brain and behavior are examined at a variety of levels, including neurochemical, neurophysiological, physiological, and cognitive functioning. This course does not normally count towards the psychological science major.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken PSYC 275 .
    Recommended: AP Chemistry or Biology, CHEM 101 /CHEM 111 , BIOL 101 , or BIOL 182  is strongly recommended. Prospective neuroscience majors should complete this course by the end of the sophomore year.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 201 - Topics in Neuroscience: Strategies & Discoveries in Systems Neuroscience

    This intermediate-level course approaches the study of neuroscience through a critical analysis and interpretation of primary literature, experimental design and execution, general quantitative analysis, and effective communication of ideas (both written and oral formats). This course offers a unique opportunity for students to understand a variety of concepts and challenges within systems neuroscience through the lens of the scientific process.

    Credits: 1.00
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170   
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 202 - Topics in Neuroscience: Strategies & Discoveries in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

    This intermediate-level course approaches the study of neuroscience through a critical analysis and interpretation of primary literature, experimental design and execution, general quantitative analysis, and effective communication of ideas (both written and oral formats). This course offers a unique opportunity for students to understand a variety of concepts and challenges within cellular & molecular neuroscience through the lens of the scientific process.

    Credits: 1.00
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  and BIOL 182   
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 291 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 353 - Visual Perception and Cognition

    Our everyday visual experiences typically yield a sense of certainty in that we believe we are operating directly from information in the world around us. Despite such a belief, many of our decisions and actions depend on perceptual inferences derived from our internalized representations of external information. Put another way, many of our decisions and subsequent actions are the direct result of our brains making guesses based on fabricated information. The purpose of this course is to explore how perceptual and cognitive processes act to formulate low- and high-level visual representations of the physical world, and how those representations inform (and are informed by) our knowledge of the world. The vast majority of the readings for this course employ behavioral paradigms that target the neurological (functional) underpinnings associated with visual representations and knowledge structures. Therefore, it contains a mix of both behavioral and neurophysiological components (with an emphasis on functional neuroscience).

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 353  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites:   or PSYC 250  or PSYC 251  or   
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: PSYC 200  is recommended.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 355 - Language and Thought

    Language is a distinctive human ability that distances humans from the rest of the animal kingdom - including chimpanzees, with whom people share 98 percent of the same genetic inheritance. Although language is considered as primarily serving communication in its advanced form, it is also an important vehicle for thought, with the potential to extend, refine, and direct thinking. The interaction of language with other cognitive abilities is the central focus of the course. Students compare the communication systems of other species with human language, examine efforts to teach human language to apes, learn how psycholinguists conceptualize and investigate language-mind relationships, and inquire into the cognitive abilities of various types of language users, such as bilinguals and deaf and hearing signers. Attention also is given to evolutionary changes in the neural structures implicated in human language and to neural processes constraining the developmental course of language acquisition.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 355  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (  or NEUR 170  or PSYC 250  or PSYC 251  or PSYC 275 ) and (  or  )
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • NEUR 373 - Brain, Physiology, and Behavior

    What is the relationship among brain, physiology, and behavior in humans and animals? What can we learn about the relationship of brain and behavior that can be useful for understanding and treating psychological and behavioral disorders in humans? This course examines a wide variety of research strategies used in the contemporary study of brain, physiology, and behavior.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 373  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 275  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 374 - Computational Neuroscience

    Computational neuroscience is one of the fastest growing fields in neuroscience. By itself, it is a field that is largely concerned with using computational modeling and advanced data analysis techniques to evaluate and extend critical concepts in neuroscience. This course is therefore designed as an introduction to modeling methods and advanced data analysis in cellular and systems neuroscience. Through in-class instruction and computational programming exercises, students explore the use of numerical simulation for modeling the electrical properties of neuron membrane channels, single cells, and a variety of processes within micro­ and macro-scale neural networks.

    Credits: 1
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170 or PSYC 275) and BIOL 182
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 375 - Cognitive Neuroscience

    Cognitive neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field - drawing from chemistry, biology, medicine, neuroscience, psychology and philosophy - that explores the relationship between the mind and the brain. The scope of this course is broad, focusing on brain mechanisms for such diverse processes as sensation and perception, attention, memory, emotion, language, and consciousness. Students read primary journal articles on case studies from the clinical literature of patients with localized brain damage and reports from the experimental and neuroimaging literature on the effects of invasive and noninvasive manipulations in normal subjects. Mind-brain relationships are considered in the context of cognitive theories, evolutionary comparisons, and human development.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 375  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170  or PSYC 275 )
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: PSYC 200  is recommended.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 376 - Functional Neuroanatomy and Neural Development

    The first quarter of the course focuses on mechanisms of neural development including proliferation of stem cells, migration, differentiation, and synapse formation. The latter portion of the course examines the function of neuroanatomical regions and their relationship to the variety of symptoms associated with schizophrenia. As the more overt symptoms of schizophrenia do not appear until late adolescence, knowing how and when various regions of the brain develop is essential for understanding the emergence of various neurological deficits in this disease.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 376  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170  or PSYC 275 ) and BIOL 182  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 377 - Psychopharmacology

    Discussion of the effects of drugs upon psychological processes and behavior in humans. Readings in the textbook treat the mechanisms of action (physiological and neurochemical) of various classes of drugs used in therapy or “on the street.” Readings in professional journals illustrate the experimental study of drug effects in humans and in animals.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 377  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170  and  ) or (NEUR 170  and  ) or (NEUR 170  and PSYC 200 ) or (PSYC 200  and PSYC 275 )
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 378 - Topics in Neuroscience

    Courses in specific neuroscience topics offered by various staff members. Inquiries about the topics offered any given term should be directed to the coordinator of the Neuroscience Program.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have either received credit for or are currently enrolled in PSYC 300NE .
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 379 - Fundamentals of Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology

    Focuses on two diseases: relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and idiopathic Alzheimer’s disease. The initial portion of the course examines the various methods neurochemists utilize to answer questions about these two diseases. The remainder of the course focuses on the epidemiological, neuroanatomical, cellular, biochemical, and molecular aspects of the two diseases. Multiple sclerosis is a more intercellular question examining the interaction of immune cells and the glia of the nervous system whereas Alzheimer’s disease tends to focus more on intracellular mechanisms leading to the synthesis of beta-amyloid and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, the two hallmarks of this disease.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 379  
    Corequisite: NEUR 379L  
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170  or PSYC 275 ) and BIOL 182  and CHEM 263  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 379L - Fundamentals of Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology Lab

    Required corequisite to NEUR 379 .

    Credits: 0.00
    Corequisite: NEUR 379 
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 381 - Behavioral Genetics

    An introduction which demonstrates that nature and nurture both play a fundamental role in the development of behavioral traits; and how genes interact with the environment to shape the development of various behavioral traits. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the studies in genetics, neuroscience, and behavior; with a comparative approach to explore human and other animal models; and cover the traditional behavioral genetic methodologies as well as modern molecular genetic techniques.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: PSYC 381  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or   
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 384 - Fundamentals of Neurophysiology

    This seminar and laboratory course examines the physiology of the nervous system. Topics include ion channel structure and function, synaptic transmission, second messenger systems, neuromodulation, the neurophysiological basis of behavior in “simple” animals, the evolution of neural circuits, the cellular basis of learning and memory, and the cellular basis of selected human nervous system diseases.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: BIOL 384  & PSYC 384  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 275  or BIOL 182  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 385 - Neuroethology

    Neuroethology is a sub-field of neuroscience focused on the study of the neural basis of natural behavior. Many types of behavior and a wide array of animals are studied, and the approach is often comparative and evolutionary. Students delve into the neuroethological literature, examining the neural basis of animal communication, navigation, movement, sensory processing, feeding, aggression, and learning.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: BIOL 385  & PSYC 385  
    Corequisite: NEUR 385L  
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 275  or BIOL 182  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: PSYC 309  or BIOL 320  (formerly BIOL 220) is recommended.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 385L - Neuroethology Lab

    Required corequisite to NEUR 385 . Laboratory exercises teach methods of behavioral analysis and electrophysiological recording techniques.

    Credits: 0.25
    Corequisite: NEUR 385 
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 389 - Molecular Neurobiology

    Examines the cell biology behind the functioning of the nervous system. Students explore how cells make fate decisions during neural development, how neurons elaborate the complex structures they take on, how they form and refine specific connections, and how these together allow the precise transmissions of complex signals. Students also examine the molecular pathways by which sensory systems transduce physical stimuli into electrochemical signals and integrate that information into the nervous system.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: BIOL 389  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: BIOL 182  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 391 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 491 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 498 - Senior Thesis

    Neuroscience majors plan and carry out one-term experimental research projects under the guidance of faculty members in the neuroscience program; such students enroll in NEUR 498 in either the fall or spring. For students who wish to be considered for honors, two-term thesis projects are required; such students enroll in NEUR 498 in the fall and NEUR 499  in the spring. On occasion, students who are not pursuing honors or high honors may complete two semesters of senior research by taking NEUR 498 in the fall and NEUR 499  in the spring. With permission, PSYC 450, when appropriate, may be substituted for 498.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: Only Neuroscience Majors and Minors
    Class Restriction: Only Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • NEUR 499 - Senior Thesis

    Neuroscience majors plan and carry out one-term experimental research projects under the guidance of faculty members in the neuroscience program; such students enroll in NEUR 498  in either the fall or spring. For students who wish to be considered for honors, two-term thesis projects are required; such students enroll in NEUR 498  in the fall and NEUR 499 in the spring. On occasion, students who are not pursuing honors or high honors may complete two semesters of senior research by taking NEUR 498  in the fall and NEUR 499 in the spring. With permission, PSYC 450, when appropriate, may be substituted for NEUR 498 .

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: Only Neuroscience Majors
    Class Restriction: Only Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Peace and Conflict Studies
  

  • PCON 111 - Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies

    Provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of peace and conflict, as well as to the peace and conflict studies major. Focuses on attempts to study and explain the evolution of warfare and the dynamics of peace from the early Modern period to today’s most imminent and controversial security issues. Students explore the relationships between global and historical patterns of mass violence, the theoretical paradigms that attempt to account for these patterns, and the various disciplinary and methodological approaches used to explore war and peace at all levels of analysis.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PCON 218 - Practices of Peace and Conflict: War in Lived Experience

    Introduces students to a range of approaches and problems in the descriptive analysis of peace and conflict. Students juxtapose core theoretical texts on war and violence from the social and human sciences with detailed ethnographic case studies. Practices of contemporary conflict are paired with the interpretive paradigms whose aim is to understand and resolve them. For example, case studies in terror are paired with the field of trauma studies; specific regional conflicts with theories of global networks; and contemporary mass violence with analysis of genocide perpetration. In the process, introduces students to important methodological paradigms from the social sciences, chiefly from anthropology, sociology, and geography, as well as humanities-based approaches from comparative religion, literature, and language studies.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: ANTH 218  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • PCON 225 - Theories of Peace and Conflict: War, State, and Society

    Examines problems of institutional systems and the articulation of power. Students are introduced to critical evaluation of the major theoretical approaches to the study of power and politics. Students consider rationalist, functionalist, and interpretive approaches in the social sciences, as they relate to questions of peace and conflict. Students examine the specific operative theories that have emerged out of these intellectual traditions - theories of state formation, security, international norms, and transnational networks - as they have been incorporated into and further developed in the study of peace and conflict. Students test major theories on case studies linked to major world events. For example, deterrence theory is examined in light of the end of the Cold War.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PCON 240 - Protesting Injustice, Waging Nonviolence

    Why, when, and how do ordinary people organize collectively to challenge political, social and economic injustice? Drawing on case studies, peacebuilding theories, and social justice-themed documentaries, students analyze popular mobilization against injustice in both American and international settings. The course is feminist in sensibility, as it asks us how to study the ways in which individuals and groups experience injustice in systems of power. It also theorizes feminist modes of organizing across different case studies to ask, how can individuals organize to contest injustice. Focus is on intersectional modes of contestation, to illuminate the axes of class, gender, and race in challenging nonviolent injustice. As such, students examine feminist approaches to peacebuilding through social justice organizing at the community and individual level.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • PCON 245 - Organizing War: Military

    Governments make war but the military fights them. How modern militaries are built impacts their world – and ours. Concentrating on the US armed forces, this class explores how mission, thought, culture, and politics shape the military and its functions. Part of our challenge is to understand the relationship among these factors. This course discusses major themes in modern military studies, with a focus on military organization. It explores why militaries change and adapt – or fail to – and asks what exactly they are meant to do in the first place. Students gain literacy in major topics and controversies in military studies and major issues in current military policy making, as well as learn practical career skills through practice creating executive summaries.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Senior
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PCON 260 - Gender in Conflict and Peace

    Aims to make a feminist sense of contemporary wars and conflicts. Students trace the gendered processes of defining citizenship, national identity and security, and examine the role of the military in the construction of femininity and masculinity. One of the most prominent social constructions of gender is that of the male provider/warrior and the female caregiver/peacemaker. The making of war depends in large part on the maintenance of this simplistic conceptualization. In addition, the inequalities and power imbalances that lead to situations of conflict, at both macro- and micro-levels, reflect and reinforce the structural and discursive inequality between men and women. The class is interdisciplinary and gives equal weight to theory and practice while drawing on writings by local and global activists.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Senior
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • PCON 291 - Independent Study

    Opportunity for individual study in areas not covered by formal course offerings, under the guidance of a member of the faculty.

    Credits: variable
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PCON 301 - International Human Rights and Advocacy

    The gap between the promise of international human rights law and its actual practice is vast. For many advocates and activists, the gap is a source of frustration as international human rights laws and norms rarely translate into basic protections at the level of the individual. This course is designed to make students aware of the contentious nature of human rights, both in theory and in practice. It is premised on the idea that human rights are constantly claimed and developed, if not made anew, by multiple actors–whether as rights-holders, advocates, or otherwise, and that this takes place in the context of intense struggle between state and non-state actors. Students examine both the international human rights regime and the struggle for human rights, and how they interact in practice. The course takes a purposeful right-based and victim-centered approach, with the goal of introducing students to the profession of human rights advocacy.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PCON 111  or PCON 218  or ANTH 218  or SOAN 218 or PCON 225  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: None
    Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements


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  • PCON 304 - Criminal Underworld: Drugs, Guns, Bodies

    Examines the violent networks of the illicit global economy: from guns and drugs smuggling, to human trafficking and animal poaching among others. Drawing from multiple scholarly traditions, it compares the concrete geographical organization of these illicit networks - that is, where and how they become grounded - and asks the following questions: What are the relationships of these illegal activities to legal circuits of power and profit? In what ways are transnational criminal networks redefining the nature of contemporary violence and the meaning of peace?

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: GEOG 304 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No First-year
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PCON 310 - Geopolitics

    Broadly defined, Geopolitics is the study of “the relationship among politics and geography, demography, and economics, especially with respect to the foreign policy of a nation.” As the study of political geography on a global scale, geopolitics examines the relationship between territories, boundaries, and states in the “closed system” we call planet earth. But geopolitics is more than an academic field. Geopolitical thought has actually instructed states how to relate to one another in the contest for territory, security, and resources. For example, the history of geopolitical analysis is closely connected to – and has often justified – various imperial projects. As a result, this course examines the relation between the development of geopolitical thought on one hand, and geopolitical events on the other. Of particular importance to the relation between theories of geopolitics and the actual geostrategies of states has been the development of conflict on a planetary scale. And so, this course traces that relation through the study of geopolitical thought and practice in the course of imperial struggles in the 19th century, World Wars and the threat of nuclear wars in the 20th, and new global challenges such as resource wars and environmental security in our own time.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: GEOG 310 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No First-year
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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