2018-2019 University Catalogue 
    
    Apr 25, 2024  
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2018-2019 University Catalogue [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

 

Political Science

Course classifications:

American politics (AM)
Comparative politics (CO)
International relations (IR)
Political theory (TH)
  

  • POSC 420 - Seminar: Street-Level Bureaucracy

    We live in an age of bureaucratic organization. Bureaucracies defend us, educate us, collect our taxes, provide us with basic services, protect our health and safety, and occasionally kill us. Effective bureaucratic agencies are necessary for the creation and sustenance of modern, democratic government. At the same time, bureaucratic power can be a threat to democracy. Legislatures may pass laws, executives may issue orders, and courts may judge, but real governance happens when a soldier fires a gun, a teacher grades a paper, an inspector certifies an aircraft, and a police officer writes a speeding ticket. The difference between effective and dysfunctional bureaucracy at the street level–where governments and people interact–can make the difference between flourishing and failing democracy. This seminar offers an introduction to organizational theory and the politics of bureaucracy, with discussions and analysis centered on the HBO series “The Wire.” Students learn classic theories and emerging research on human organization and bureaucratic politics by applying them to the characters and stories of the acclaimed television series.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: POSC 150  or PSYC 150  or ECON 151  or SOAN 204 or SOCI 201  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • POSC 425 - Seminar: The Challenge of Nationalism (Study Group)

    Examines the development of European nationalism, the challenge nationalism has posed to the international community in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the challenge world–wide nationalism continues to pose to international relations in the 21st century and beyond.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 430 - Seminar: Problems and Issues in Post-Mao China

    This seminar examines a selected set of problems and issues in the post-Mao reform of China’s political system, including the role of ideology, mechanisms of control, the personnel and economic planning systems, the decision-making process, the character and role of the Communist Party, economic development strategies, and the succession of leadership.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 433 - Seminar: Topics in Globalization

    The seminar analyzes the political implications of economic trends and developments that affect the operation of the international system and its constituent parts: North-North, North-South, and South-South relations.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 434 - Seminar: Immigrants, Refugees, and the Politics of Borders

    This seminar examines themes in migration, citizenship, and belonging, in the context of South Asian migration world-wide, with special emphasis on the United States. The liberalization of American immigration law in the 1960s provides the basis for the discussion of push-pull factors of migration of South Asians from various states in the subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal). Today South Asians are deemed to be a model minority, a label that at the same time extols and dehumanizes South Asians depending on their class position and their country of origin. To counter the stereotypical narratives of doctors and engineers on the one hand and cab drivers and convenience-store clerks on the other, students are encouraged to engage with various texts to recognize ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of South Asian migrants, and to consider the challenges of acculturation and assimilation as immigrants become citizens.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 436 - Seminar: Continuity and Change in International Politics

    An analysis of contemporary conceptual approaches to international politics and of the trends and developments that are altering some traditional assumptions about the nature of the international arena.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: Recommended for all international relations honors students and for students going to graduate school.
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • POSC 437 - Seminar: Democratization and Prospects for Peace and Prosperity

    This seminar examines the politics of democratic transition and the political and economic performance of existing democracies, with a focus on the developing world. The class pays particular attention to the distinctive challenges of democratizing amidst globalization and resurgent nationalism, and analyzes the effects of democratization on international and internal conflict, economic development, equity, and political stability. Students evaluate the current debate over how the US can aid democratization. Countries studied include Russia, Mexico, Turkey, and South Korea.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 441 - Seminar: Theories of State

    Due to the lingering legacy of colonialism, the economic effects of globalization, and the growth of transnational movements, the dominance of the state as the only form of political organization is in question today. The course will examine the revival of the theory of the state that has followed these developments and has yielded a rich and sophisticated literature. Topics may include: sovereignty, legitimation, and power.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 451 - Seminar: Africa in World Politics

    More than 50 years after formal independence, what is the contemporary condition of African countries? What has been the impact of economic and political reforms and the changing world order? What is the influence of foreign powers on African politics and development? This seminar discusses how Africa has featured in world politics since the advent of colonialism to the present. Topics include: slave trade, European exploration of Africa, and the establishment of the colonial trade. The majority of the course, however, focuses on the post-colonial period. Students examine the phenomenon of neo-colonialism, the involvement of Western and Asian powers in Africa, and the international aid regime. The course also focuses on some of the most important conflicts that took place on the continent, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and Mali.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 454 - Seminar: The Cold War and After

    This seminar considers the interrelationships between two great land-based nations, the US and Russia, which expanded territorially, developed economically, and emerged to strategic dominance at much the same time. It examines the competition between those two states, looks at the prospects for their cooperation, and how the end of the Cold War has created new opportunities and problems for each of them.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 455 - Seminar: American Foreign Policy

    The course focuses on theorists, thinkers, and critics of American foreign policy. Emphasis is on the values, strategies, and doctrines that have been the basis for our foreign relations, and on the perennial themes of isolationism, interventionism, realism, and idealism.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 456 - Seminar: War - Theories and Practices

    Theories of warfare and explanations of the outbreak of war are the focus of this course. Explanations of warfare as a general characteristic of the international system and case studies are examined, as is the evidence on the economic, political, and social consequences of war. The course deals both with general patterns and with particular 20th-century wars.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: POSC 152  or POSC 232 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • POSC 464 - Seminar: Freedom and Authority in Modern Political Philosophy

    What is freedom and how much freedom is good for society? What kind of justification do political theorists offer in defense of freedom? The course will examine the great debates about the nature of freedom and the conditions of a free society. Students will also discuss the relation between freedom or liberty and other competing values, such as equality, security, and virtue to understand the balance of ideals in practical political life. Readings will be selected from liberal thinkers such as Mill, Kant, Adam Smith, and Isaiah Berlin as well as from critics of classical liberalism such as Marx and Nietzsche.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 466 - Seminar: Towards 1789: The Historical Development of American Constitutionalism

    In this seminar, the development of constitutional and political thought in the Founding era is explored through two principal foci: the constitutional crisis in the British Empire that led to the issuance of the Declaration of Independence, and the debates in the Philadelphia Convention that framed The Constitution of 1789. The seminar’s reading will, therefore, emphasize the Journals of the Continental Congress and the Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Seminar participants will come to understand, through an intimate familiarity with what was actually written or said in the two most important bodies that shaped American constitutionalism and political institutions, how the Founders themselves actually understood what they hoped to achieve.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 467 - Seminar: Modern Theories of Justice

    Develops an appreciation of conflicting and alternative approaches to these questions: What is “just?” What do differences in theories reveal about contemporary understanding of justice and the possibility of rational resolution of controversies concerning the nature of rights, economic distribution, civil rights, and political obligations?

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 469 - Seminar: Constitutional Theory

    Using the Constitution of the United States as its central case, the seminar examines the theory and practice of constitutions and constitutionalism. Students consider such questions as: What is a constitution? Why have one? What does it mean to “have” a constitution (what are the possible relations between the text and practice)? What are the distinct forms of constitutional government and what are their advantages and disadvantages? To what extent should we consider a constitution a cause or effect of political culture? How should one interpret a constitution; to what extent are the terms of American debate—such as originalism v. nonoriginalism—found in other countries? As the form of government to which most countries aspire today (or the form they claim to be), liberal democracy seems to have pride of place, but why? Is it the right answer to the ancient question of the “best regime”? Or perhaps the best practicable regime? Do the forces of history favor its existence, or does this depend more fundamentally on acts of statesmanship?

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 472 - Seminar: Post Cold War Conflict Resolution

    This seminar aims to better understand the phenomenon of international conflicts and wars as well as of their ending by peaceful means. The course begins with reviewing the theoretical literature explaining the causes of war and the conditions determining the forms and patterns of their management and settlement, with an emphasis on the complex shift from protracted conflict to diplomacy, stabilization of coexistence and peace in domestic, regional and international contexts. This part also includes a critical approach to theories of ripeness, international mediation and incentives; cultural gaps and social and psychological obstacles in the process of conflict settlement. Empirically, the course focuses on the case of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the American involvement in the efforts to bring about its settlement. This part assumes a regional approach which examines the ability of individual Arab and Muslim states to act as autonomously of compelling pan-Arab and pan-Islamic ideologies.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 475 - Seminar: Philosophies of Law: Theory and Practice

    Introduces students to philosophies of law as found in theories of natural law, international law, and positive law. Students examine the question of whether there are universal norms of morality and justice that transcend the diversity of cultures and the claims of multiculturalism. Students also examine the ‘higher law’ background of constitutions, legal systems, social movements, and international organizations. Readings will be selected from writings of classical Greek and Roman philosophers, medieval scholastics, modern creators of international law, the American founders, and contemporary philosophers of human rights and cultural relativism.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 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: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • POSC 498 - Honors Seminar

    This course sequence is designed to provide the training and supervision for a select group of students to write honors theses in political science.

    Credits: 1.00
    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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  • POSC 499 - Honors Seminar

    This course sequence is designed to provide the training and supervision for a select group of students to write honors theses in political science.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: POSC 498 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Psychology
  

  • PSYC 109 - Contemporary Issues in Psychological Science

    A course in specific topics offered by various staff members. Students should contact the department regarding the topics offered during any given term. This course does not fulfill the prerequisite for PSYC 200 .

    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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  • PSYC 150 - Introduction to Psychological Science

    Introduces students to the scientific study of human behavior. Topics include biological foundations of behavior, learning, cognition, sensation and perception, development over the life span, emotion and motivation, personality, social thinking and behavior, and the causes and treatment of psychological disorders.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: Only First-year, Sophomore
    Recommended: Psychology 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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  • PSYC 200 - Research Methods in Psychological Science

    An introduction to research methods in psychological science. Provides experience in developing the following skills: critically reviewing scientific literature, formulating testable research hypotheses, designing experiments, measuring behavior, interpreting research results, and writing and presenting research reports.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  or NEUR 170  or PSYC 170
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Senior
    Recommended: Psychology majors should take this course during the sophomore year
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 200L - Research Methods in Psychology Lab

    Required corequisite to PSYC 200 .

    Credits: 0.00
    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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  • PSYC 250 - Human Cognition

    Cognitive psychology is a scientific approach to understanding the functioning of the human mind and its relationship to behavior. This course explores recent empirical work in both the theoretical and practical aspects of a variety of issues related to cognition. Topics covered include pattern recognition, attention, mental representation, memory, problem solving, and development of expertise, reasoning, and intelligence.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  or NEUR 170  or PSYC 170
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 251 - Learning and Cognition

    One of the most fundamental influences on thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes is learning. This course addresses major topics in learning and cognition including learning through association, reinforcement and punishment, the role of evolution in learning, and learning in human and non-human animals. Students explore the cognitive processes of attention, memory, and concept formation, and their role in learning, and various applications of learning, including education, advertising, and addictions.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  or PSYC 170 or NEUR 170 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 261 - Personality Psychology

    Explores approaches to understanding the emotional, social, and behavioral functioning of the individual person. This course traces the study of personality from classic theories based on clinical observations to contemporary theories based on empirical research. Students learn about the field’s major debates and research findings, and analyze individual cases as a means of illustrating and applying each theory. The ultimate goal of the course is to have students integrate the knowledge they have gained to form a coherent understanding of the person.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have received credit for PSYC 260.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 262 - Psychopathology

    Our understanding of mental health issues and disorders is continually expanding. This course aims to broaden students’ understanding of psychopathology and current mental health disorders, to strengthen students’ abilities to recognize problematic behaviors and to determine what to do in the face of them, and to encourage critical interpretation of current theories and findings in psychopathology. Students will consider multicultural issues and current empirical research on mental health disorders.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 263 - Social Psychology

    A survey of social psychology, the scientific study of human feeling, thinking, and behavior in social contexts. The course considers both proximate (immediate) influences on behavior, such as the immediate social situation as well as distal (more remote) influences on behavior, such as human evolution. Topics include social attitudes, judgment and decision making, persuasion, conformity, close relationships, altruism, aggression, prejudice, and intergroup conflict. The application of social psychology to education, health, and economics is also examined.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have received credit for PSYC 260.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 264 - Child Psychology

    How do humans grow and change from the prenatal period through adolescence? What factors influence development, and how do the contexts in which children spend their time help to determine development? These are the major questions considered in this survey of the various domains of development–primarily social, emotional, and cognitive–and the settings in which development occurs–with family, with peers, in schools, for example. Students learn about theory and empirical research on human development, and they also consider how this research can be applied when working with children.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken EDUC 204 .
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 275 - Biological Psychology

    Focuses on issues concerning cellular and behavioral/cognitive neuroscience and is designed for students majoring in psychological science. The first part covers neuroanatomy, neuronal structure and function, brain evolution and development, movement, and cellular models of memory. The second and third parts take students through cognitive neuroscience, sensory systems, sleep and dreaming, language, emotion, ingestive behaviors, psychopathology, and cognitive aspects of learning and memory. Also teaches basic methodology so that students learn the many ways to ask and answer questions about brain and behavior in humans and non-humans alike. Normally does not count towards the neuroscience major.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Senior
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have completed NEUR 170  (formerly crosslisted as PSYC 270)
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • PSYC 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


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • PSYC 300CO - Topics in Cognition

    An intermediate-level course in specific psychological science topics offered by various staff members. Students should contact the department regarding the topics offered during any given term.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 300NE - Topics in Neuroscience

    An intermediate-level course in specific neuroscience topics offered by various staff members. Students should contact the department regarding the topics offered during any given term.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Restrictions: Not open to students who have either received credit for or are currently enrolled in NEUR 378 .
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 300SO - Topics in Social, Developmental, Personality, or Clinical Psychology

    An intermediate-level course in specific social, developmental, personality or clinical science topics offered by various staff members. Students should contact the department regarding the topics offered during any given term.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 301CO - Topics in Psychology

    An intermediate-level course in specific psychology topics offered by various staff members. Students should contact the department regarding the topics offered during any given term. Prerequisite: PSYC 200  or permission of instructor.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 309 - Quantitative Methods in Behavioral Research

    An introduction to statistical procedures and quantitative concepts used in psychological science, this course emphasizes principles of research design and analysis in the behavioral sciences.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: PSYC 309L  
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  or PSYC 170 or NEUR 170  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: Psychology majors should complete this course by the end of the junior year.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 309L - Quantitative Methods in Behavioral Research Lab

    Required corequisite to PSYC 309 .

    Credits: 0.00
    Corequisite: PSYC 309 
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • PSYC 341 - Psychological Criminology

    An introduction to concepts of psychological criminology. The primary aim is to understand the factors that make a person a criminal. A number of factors are examined, including evolutionary, biological, personality, developmental, environmental, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives. Interactions between individual differences and environmental influences are also examined. Related topics, such as psychopathology and substance use, are discussed. The course includes the analysis of individual cases, and special consideration is given to prevention and treatment initiatives.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


    Click here for Course Offerings by term
  

  • PSYC 342 - Close Relationships

    Relationships can be a source of great joy when they go well and great sorrow when they go wrong. Although scholars and everyday people have always been interested in understanding relationships, only in the past 30 years or so have behavioral researchers turned their attention to understanding the processes that regulate behavior in meaningful relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners. This course will explore leading theories and empirical studies in the literature on adult relationships.

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


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  • PSYC 351 - Attention and Memory

    Attention and memory are at the core of how humans come to know and act on the world as well as forming the basis of who they are as individuals. This course is not a survey as it focuses on a few areas within attention and memory and studies these areas in depth, exploring seminal and current theories and empirical findings in human attention and memory from a cognitive perspective. Examples of problems which may be addressed include bottom-up vs. top-down attention allocation, dual-task performance, inhibition and attention control, attention and working memory, memory for skills, auto-biographical and emotional memories, memory impairments, and memory in everyday life (e.g., memory loss with age, Alzheimer’s dementia, alcoholic dementia).

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  and (PSYC 250  or PSYC 251 )
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 352 - Origins of Human Thought

    Studies the origins of human thought from a variety of perspectives, including developmental, cross-cultural, and comparative. Each of these perspectives provides unique evidence concerning “origins.” Developmental psychology examines the origins of thought within the lifespan of the individual within a particular culture; cross-cultural psychology examines the degree to which ways of thinking originate culturally; comparative psychology studies the evolutionary origins of thinking by making comparisons among species. These different approaches to studying “origins” are applied to a few focused topics in human cognition, such as origins of speech, concepts and categories, perception of objects, and perception of music.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 353 - Visual Perception and Cognition

    Focuses on the visual sensory and cognitive processes that enable humans to elaborate a mental model of the physical world. The course examines the ways humans internally represent external objects and how events in turn influence their perceptions. Readings focus on the behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of low-level vision and face recognition, visual awareness and attention, and mental imagery.

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


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  • PSYC 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: NEUR 355  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 170 or NEUR 170  or PSYC 250  or PSYC 251  or PSYC 275  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 360 - Bonding across Boundaries: A Service Learning Experience

    This course explores relationship and group process among school-aged children with and without disabilities. First, students review normative and atypical social development and examine the ways in which children typically include and exclude one another in their social groups. Students then review interventions that have been used to encourage cooperation and facilitate positive relationships among children from different backgrounds. Finally, the class explores the use of music and drama to facilitate the development of social connection in children. With this background, students participate in an extensive service-learning project where they are directly responsible for the development and implementation of a 6-week drama and music workshop for local children with and without disabilities. The final weeks of the seminar are devoted to evaluating the project both empirically and qualitatively.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 363  or EDUC 307
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 361 - Psychotherapy and Behavior Change

    Explores the major models of psychological treatment in adults and children. Each treatment model is examined in terms of its perspective on human behavior and psychopathology, its mechanisms and techniques of therapeutic change, and its empirical evidence. Also addressed are some of the recurring controversies in the field of clinical psychology: Should clinical research and practice inform each other and, if so, how? Can the disparate treatment models and their implicit world-views be integrated? To what extent is lasting behavior change possible?

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 362 - Social Bonds

    Explores the ontogenetic (developmental) and phylogenetic (evolutionary) roots underlying human social relationships. Social bonds are traced through the lifespan, beginning with parent-infant attachments, moving next to peer relationships, and ending with pair bonds. Students examine the interplay of social cognition, social perception, emotion, and communication in human sociability. Patterns underlying human social bonds are deciphered using research from child, social, cross-cultural, evolutionary, biological, and comparative psychology.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 363 - Developmental Psychopathology

    Introduces the study of psychological problems in the context of human development. Using a broad, integrative framework, the course examines childhood psychological problems from a variety of perspectives (genetic, biological, temperament, socioemotional, family, and cultural). Syndromes that often first appear in childhood and adolescence are discussed, including autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and youth violence, depression and suicide, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders. The course also examines developmental resilience, environments that place children at risk for poor outcomes, and prevention.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 364 - Human Motivation

    Motivation is the energy behind human actions. Can people control their own desires? How do emotions energize behavior? What satisfactions contribute to a happy life? These questions are of interest to psychologists studying human motivation. This course begins by examining basic biological motives, such as hunger and aggression, and progresses toward the study of more complex motivational phenomena such as curiosity, striving for success, and falling in love. By drawing from physiological, cognitive, social, and personality psychology, this course provides a unique opportunity to examine some of the most interesting questions in psychology from a variety of perspectives.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 365 - Cross-Cultural Human Development

    To what degree does culture shape and constrain the development of human ability, thought, and behavior? What features of human behavior lie beyond culture’s reach? In pursuing these questions, students study how sensorimotor, perceptual, emotional, cognitive, social, and personality development proceed in diverse cultural contexts. Theories of human development and the cross-cultural methodologies used to test them are critiqued in detail. Inquiry is framed by an understanding of cultural and biological evolution and incorporates readings from developmental and cross-cultural psychological science, and from anthropology and sociology.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: PSYC 309  is recommended.
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 366 - Psychology of Leadership

    An exploration of the psychological forces that give root to human dominance, hierarchy, and leadership. Guided by evolutionary, developmental, and cross-cultural perspectives, questions about social power and leadership are addressed using empirical literature: To what degree are motives for social dominance–and social docility–embedded in human nature and traceable through primate evolution? What traits and competencies distinguish leaders from followers, how early do these differences develop, and is the pattern the same for girls and boys, and for men and women, across the globe? How do some leaders and groups cultivate followers so devoted that they adhere to destructive directives? Contemporary problems in leadership provide illustrations.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 367 - Advanced Social Psychology

    Perhaps more than anything else, people think about other people- the people with whom they are close, those who shape conceptions of the self, motivate behavior, and produce strong emotional reactions. The field of social psychology is devoted to understanding how people feel about, think about, and interact with others. This advanced social psychology seminar offers a contemporary, in-depth exploration of different topic areas within the field of social psychology. Students investigate primary literature on some of the most vexing, provocative, and important issues of our time.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 368 - Prejudice and Racism

    Provides a survey of the psychology of prejudice and racism, the scientific study of human feeling, thinking, and behavior in situations involving conflict between groups. More broadly, the course examines the psychological factors that contribute to the perpetuation of inequality and discrimination. Students consider both proximate (immediate) influences on behavior, such as the immediate social situation, as well as distal (more remote) influences on behavior, such as human evolution. Both motivational approaches to understanding prejudice (e.g., explaining prejudice as a consequence of the desire for social dominance) as well as cognitive approaches (e.g., explaining prejudice as a byproduct of automatic associations people learn) are examined.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 369 - Industrial/Organizational Psychology

    Most adults spend the majority of their waking hours working. This is a greater investment of time and energy than is made into any other single endeavor. Thus, understanding the reasons why people work, the psychological dynamics of the workplace, and the potential benefits and costs of various work situations is of considerable practical importance. This course introduces students to the field of industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology, with an emphasis on studying the workplace as an important context for human interaction, the realization of personal goals, and the development of competencies. Students also discuss the role that I/O psychologists play in organizations.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 200 
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 372 - Health Psychology

    Health psychologists seek to understand the relationships among psychological factors, behavior, and physical health. Topics covered in this course include the effects of stress, depression, and personality characteristics on people’s susceptibility to and recovery from illness; the role of psychotherapy, social support, and meditation in helping people with chronic illnesses survive longer; and the significance of psychological factors in alternative medical treatments such as acupuncture. The course also considers in detail how the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems interact to mediate the relationship between psychological processes and physical health.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 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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  • PSYC 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: NEUR 373 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 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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  • PSYC 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: NEUR 375  
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170  or PSYC 170 or PSYC 275 )
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: PSYC 200 
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 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 class 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: NEUR 376 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: (NEUR 170  or PSYC 170 or PSYC 275 ) and (BIOL 182  or BIOL 212)
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 377 - Psychopharmacology

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


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  • PSYC 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: NEUR 379  
    Corequisite: PSYC 379L 
    Prerequisites: (PSYC 170 or PSYC 275  or NEUR 170 ) and (BIOL 182  or BIOL 212) and CHEM 263  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 379L - Fundamentals of Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology Lab

    Required corequisite to PSYC 379 .

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


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  • PSYC 381 - Behavioral Genetics

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

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


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  • PSYC 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  & NEUR 384 
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 170 or PSYC 275  or BIOL 182  or BIOL 212
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 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  & NEUR 385  
    Corequisite: PSYC 385L  
    Prerequisites: NEUR 170  or PSYC 170 or PSYC 275  or BIOL 182  or BIOL 212
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: None
    Recommended: PSYC 309  or BIOL 220
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 385L - Neuroethology Lab

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

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


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  • PSYC 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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  • PSYC 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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  • PSYC 498 - Senior Research

    Psychological science majors plan and carry out one-term research projects under the guidance of faculty members in the Psychological and Brain Sciences department. For those who wish to be considered for honors or high honors, two-term thesis projects are required. Honors students may fulfill the requirement for two semesters of research by enrolling in PSYC 498 in the fall and   in the spring semester. On occasion, students who are not pursuing honors or high honors may complete two semesters of senior research by taking PSYC 498 in the fall and   in the spring. With permission, PSYC 450, or PSYC 460, when offered, may be substituted for PSYC 498.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 150  and PSYC 200  and PSYC 309   and one other 300-level course
    Major/Minor Restrictions: Only Psychology Majors and Minors
    Class Restriction: Only Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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  • PSYC 499 - Senior Research

    Psychological science majors plan and carry out one-term research projects under the guidance of faculty members in the Psychological and Brain Science department. For those who wish to be considered for honors or high honors, two-term thesis projects are required. Honors students may fulfill the requirement for two semesters of research by enrolling in   in the fall and PSYC 499 in the spring semester. On occasion, students who are not pursuing honors or high honors may complete two semesters of senior research by taking PSYC 498 in the fall and   in the spring. With permission, PSYC 450, or PSYC 460, when offered, may be substituted for  .

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: PSYC 498  
    Major/Minor Restrictions: Only Psychology Majors and Minors
    Class Restriction: Only Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
    Liberal Arts CORE: None


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Religion
  

  • RELG 101 - The World’s Religions

    An introduction to the variety of the world’s religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and the indigenous faiths of Africa and America. The course explores and compares religious beliefs, values, practices, rituals, texts, images, and stories, in their historical, cultural, and political contexts. It examines diversity and concordance within each tradition, encouraging students to reflect thoughtfully on the nature of religion and the ways it shapes communities and individuals through the world.

    Credits: 1.00
    Corequisite: None
    Prerequisites: None
    Major/Minor Restrictions: None
    Class Restriction: No Senior
    Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
    Liberal Arts CORE: None
    Formerly: RELG 202


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  • RELG 102 - Religion and the Contemporary World

    Explores the mutual impact between religions and contemporary global issues. How do diverse religious individuals and communities address the prominent moral concerns of our times? What do religions offer the contemporary world, especially in an era in which secular, atheistic, and spiritual critics alike have singled out religion as a noxious influence in human society? Potential topics of focus include terrorism, genocide, religion and politics, war, gender and sexuality, health and medicine, poverty and class disparity, environmental justice, science and technology, and secularization. In examining such questions the class serves to sharpen students’ present-day understanding of religion and to provide students with a framework for making sense of some of today’s most controversial political, social, and philosophical issues.

    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
    Formerly: RELG 201.


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  • RELG 203 - Comparative Religious Ethics

    Examines the ethical dimensions of a variety of religious traditions and considers them in light of one another. As a comparative course in the study of religion it aims to give students a better sense of what role religious traditions play in cultivating forms of moral thought and behavior, and how specific traditions might begin to think about ethical issues. That is, students investigate how these traditions envision morality as such but also how they think concretely about violence, gender, poverty, and the value of human life. This comparative approach to the study of religion ultimately hopes to prompt students toward a consideration of what is, as well as what is not, ethical about these traditions.

    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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  • RELG 204 - Hindu Mythology

    An exploration of the Hindu gods and goddesses of India through their myths. For centuries Indians have been telling stories about the gods through sacred scripture, folklore, and pilgrimage traditions, and more recently in comic books, television series, and films. Through close readings of India’s mythic and epic texts communicated through diverse media, students gain an introduction to Hinduism as a dynamic, living religious tradition. Anyone attempting to understand the complexities of Indian culture, politics, and society soon encounters the gods and goddesses of the Hindu tradition. Besides introducing student to these fascinating figures and their stories, the course seeks to explore broader questions in the study of religion including the politics of gendered visions of the divine, and the effects of the medium on the transmission of religious messages.

    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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  • RELG 207 - Chinese Ways of Thought

    Provides an introduction to the Chinese worldview, examining Chinese philosophical and religious thought from the Warring States period (453-221 BCE), Neo-Confucian thought from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and later periods. Classical Chinese thought was defined by the violence of the times and was therefore directed toward the question of how social harmony might be established and maintained. Later Confucian thought, under the influence of Buddhism, introduced additional questions about ethics and the human relationship to the cosmos. These intellectual traditions influenced generations of Chinese scholars and officials, and they also give insight into some of the unique aspects of Chinese society today. The course considers attempts by modern-day scholars (“New Confucians”) to apply Chinese thought to contemporary ethical and political problems.

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


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  • RELG 208 - The Hebrew Bible in America

    The Bible is not only the best-selling book in America, but is arguably the book that has most profoundly shaped the United States. This course is an introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in its American contexts, particularly American public life. In reading the Hebrew Bible, students ask themselves how these scriptures have shaped American politics, culture, history, and literature. Who has used the Bible and how? To whom does the Bible now speak, and what does it say? In what sense is the Bible understood to be an American text? This course presumes no knowledge of the Christian or Jewish Bibles.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: JWST 208 
    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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  • RELG 209 - Jesus and Justice: Ancient and Modern Debates

    What has Jesus to do with justice? This course explores contemporary uses of Christian scriptures by social justice movements and their critics. Students will focus on texts written by early followers of Jesus, including those that became part of the “New Testament,” as well as works banned from that collection. Students will also consider the legacy of these ancient writings for current debates about the structures underlying racial, gender, LGBTQ, interfaith, class, and environmental justice movements. This introductory discussion-based course is open to all students, whether or not you identify as “Christian.”

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


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  • RELG 213 - The Bible as/and Literature

    What role does literary art play in the shaping of biblical narrative? How does the construction of the sacred text reflect its theological meaning? The religious vision of the Bible is given depth and subtlety precisely by being conveyed literarily; thus, the primary concern in this course is with the literature and literary influence of the received text of the Bible rather than with the history of the text’s creation. As students read through the canon they establish the boundaries of the texts studied, distinguish the type(s) of literature found in them, examine their prose and poetic qualities, and identify their surface structures. Students also consider the literary legacy of the Bible and the many ways that subsequent writers have revisited its stories.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: JWST 213 
    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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  • RELG 214 - Introduction to the Qur’an

    Designed to introduce the various ways in which the Qur’an has been received in history and continues to be received today. Students examine the theological, legal, literary, historical, mystical, and modern approaches to the Qur’an in an attempt to understand holistically various methods of exegesis and their ramifications. The class engages in the debates that have historically surrounded the Qur’an and explore methods of interpretation both classical and modern, especially those of fundamentalists, reformists, and feminists.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: MIST 214  
    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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  • RELG 216 - Life of Muhammad

    A historical study of the life of Muhammad, from his birth in 570 CE to his death in 632 CE. The course includes (1) an in-depth introduction to the genres of hadith and sira literature, as well as the major works in those genres, the history of their compilation, and an evaluation of various authors and their works, from the perspectives of both Islamic and Western scholarship; (2) a biographical study of the life of Muhammad and his position in Muslim thought as the ideal exemplar: and (3) an examination of the lives of the women around Muhammad.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: MIST 216 
    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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  • RELG 222 - Comparative Scripture

    Based on comparative scriptural analysis or what is now called “Scriptural Reasoning.” The focus will be on close readings of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Qur’an with an eye to common themes and differences. Students will engage in a comparison of interpretive traditions in Judaism, Christianity and Islam to see how particular scriptural passages are understood in the religious traditions. The course will also spend time studying the ways in which scriptural reasoning has been used as a form of religious conflict resolution and peace-building in situations of conflict in the UK and Middle East.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: JWST 222  
    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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  • RELG 226 - Reason, Religion, and God

    Examines the similarities and differences between rational and religious understandings of God. By pursuing close readings of classic texts in the field of philosophy of religion, this course considers how both philosophical and religious ideas are often developed together. Students explore various arguments about the rationality of God as responses to wider intellectual, cultural, and historical contexts in which they are made and to the specific shape and needs of a particular religious tradition (e.g., Catholicism, Protestantism, or Judaism). Students also explore the “rationality” of religious forms such as scripture, symbol, ritual, and prayer. In different semesters, select themes such as revelation, theodicy (the justification of God in the face of human suffering), providence and free will, or the theism/atheism debate are investigated.

    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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  • RELG 228 - Jerusalem: City of Gods

    An introduction to the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In learning about the three Abrahamic religions and their sacred spaces, students are exposed to key themes in the study of religion (scripture and interpretation, feasting and fasting, pilgrimage, sanctuary and sacred space, ritual and worship) and to the particular theme of each religion’s conceptions of Jerusalem. The course foregrounds the ways that each tradition understands the city as a symbol–as a holy city, a city of God, a centre of the cosmos. As importantly, it explores how religion is lived within the city’s sacred geography, investigating the religious practices and sacred sites of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Jerusalem.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: JWST 228 
    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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  • RELG 230 - Feasting and Fasting: Religion and Food

    Examines a range of religious and cultural attitudes about food. What foods are celebrated? What foods forbidden? Who can eat what and when? Through a comparative approach to food restrictions and injunctions, feasts and fasts, and food-based rituals and liturgies in Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu traditions, students investigate the role food plays in defining religious boundaries and identities.

    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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  • RELG 232 - Health and Healing in Asian Religions

    A look at how illness, health, and healing are understood and experienced in parts of Asia where illness is not defined merely as a physiological problem, but is also seen to have important spiritual, aesthetic, social, and political causes and effects. Similarly, while biomedicine defines health as the absence of disease, in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine, health is about achieving balance between different elements in the body, such as wind, water, and fire. Students will develop an appreciation for the culturally and historically patterned ways in which people come to identify and treat bodily, psychological, and social distress. For instance, students will examine spirit possession in a variety of contexts as both a form of affliction and as a mode of healing. Students will look at the role of traditional healers; how cultures vary in what they consider to be the causes of illness; who gets sick; what forms illness takes; and how the social, political, and aesthetic dimensions of health and healing affect treatment outcomes. Readings will be drawn from the fields of ethnomedicine, medical anthropology, and the anthropology of religion, to explore how illness and health are conceptualized and experienced in different cultures and across different sites of healing.

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


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  • RELG 234 - Women and Religious Traditions

    Examines autobiographical, biographical, descriptive, and historical materials that present and analyze the lives of women in the context of various religious traditions. In a given term, students focus upon specific geographical areas, historical periods, and/or religious traditions.

    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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  • RELG 235 - Religion, War, Peace, and Reconciliation

    This is a course on the role and function of religion toward peace and reconciliation. Students examine the scriptural, theological, and ethical teachings of various religions on justice, conflict resolution, peace, and reconciliation. Students also examine the theological writings on justice, war, and peace by Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Schleiermacher. Using concrete case studies of conflict and reconciliation, students explore the teachings of African religion, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam on nonviolence, peace making, relationship of peace and justice, as well as evaluate the negative and positive contributions of these religions toward conflict. Students examine religious and interreligious conflicts (Northern Ireland, India/Pakistan), religious language and symbols (Rwanda), current attempts at peace reconciliations (Bosnia, Liberia), and the role of religions and the causes of situations of conflict (the Middle East). Of particular interest is an examination of situations in which the political process was shaped and defined to a greater degree by religious leaders and their communities (South Africa).

    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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  • RELG 236 - Religion, Science, and the Environment

    In the 17th century, religion lost its claim to the cosmos; the religious knowledge of the order of nature ceased to possess any legitimacy in the new paradigm of science that came to dominate the West. Until the 1960s, Christian thinkers considered it the great glory of Christianity that it alone among the world’s religions had permitted purely secular science to develop in a civilization in which it was dominant. After several centuries of an ever-increasing eclipse of the religious significance of nature in the West and neglect of the order of nature, humans are now experiencing environmental crisis: global warming; the destruction of the ozone layer; climatic and weather pattern changes; soil erosion; death of animals, birds, and marine life; and the disappearance of some plant species. Today the very fabric of life is threatened and the future of our world hangs in the balance as nature is threatened by destruction caused by an environmental crisis that has gone unchecked for several centuries. What can be learned from religions of the world that will save humanity and nature? What is the relationship between religion, nature, science, and technology? Discussions include views from various religious traditions concerning nature, concept of the human, notions of progress and destiny, faith and science, ecological theology, ecofeminism, justice and sustainability, and spirituality.

    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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  • RELG 240 - Religion and Terrorism

    Terrorists are often driven by extremist beliefs staunchly rooted in religious, racial, and ethical rationales for torture, violence, and genocide. The course provides a theoretical and empirical understanding, and explanation of terrorism. While tracing the history of terrorism to the ancient West, students will also identify various analytical approaches to the study of terrorism, recognize terrorist groups, and review terrorist tactics. Students will examine the ways that states counter terror, and the choices and the tradeoffs states face when confronting terrorism. Students will examine terrorist individuals and groups in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism such as the Ku Klux Klan, Timothy Mc Veigh, Republican Army in Ireland, Orthodox Rabbi Meir Kahane, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, Osama bin Laden, Boko Haram, Islamic State, and Shoko Asahara in Japan.

    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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  • RELG 244 - African American Religious Experience

    This historical, theological, and contextual course examines the African American religious experience, including slavery in America, the struggle for freedom and identify, the development of the Black Church, Black Muslims, the Civil Rights movement, the emergence of Black and Womanist theologies, and other expressions of African American spirituality. Course readings include writings of such historical and contemporary authors as Frederick Douglass, W. E. Du B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcom X, James Cone, Albert Raboteau, Jacquelyn Grant, and Lewis Baldwin.

    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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  • RELG 245 - Religion in Contemporary America

    Religion continues to exert major influences upon the shape of American life at the beginning of the 21st century. This course studies themes and controversies in American culture for the past few decades, focusing upon the study of religious diversity and the changing religious landscape of America; issues of church and state; religion and politics; and religious ideas and values as they have shaped, and been expressed in, popular culture. Special attention is paid to the aftershocks of 9/11 on American religious dynamics.

    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
    Formerly: RELG 330


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  • RELG 247 - Death and Afterlife

    This course examines the many ways humans have attempted to anticipate, accept, deny, defeat, or transcend death. Does one have a soul and does it survive? Is immortality possible? What techniques have people used in efforts to achieve it? Is there a “good” way to die? The focus is on scriptures and rituals of Buddhists, Hindus, ancient Greeks, Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and their legacies for contemporary America. Topics include body and soul, heaven and hell, spiritism, ghosts, reincarnation, resurrection, near-death experiences, relics, funerals, cremation, and cemeteries.

    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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  • RELG 248 - Christianity, Islam, and Political Change in Africa

    The course explores how Christianity and Islam have caused or influenced conflict and division or greater political and social freedoms in Africa. Select countries are examined as case studies: Nigeria and Sudan for conflict and division; South Africa and Malawi for democratization of society. The course covers the spread of Christianity and Islam, colonial (British, French, and German) policy and Christian missionaries’ attitude toward Islam, separation of religion and state (the debate over Islamic Law, Shar’ia), and religion and politics. Movements within Islam (Islamic brotherhoods, Madhist movement) and Christianity (liberation, black, womanist/feminist theologies) are also studied.

    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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  • RELG 251 - Faith after the Holocaust

    The death of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis in the Second World War represents a radical challenge to faith in Judaism, in Christianity, and in humanism. The course begins with a historical overview of the Holocaust and uses accounts of Holocaust survivors to articulate the challenge of the Holocaust to faith. It then reviews philosophical and theological responses to this challenge by Jewish and Christian authors. The weak as well as the heroic human figures in the Holocaust are studied. Those Jews who survived with their humanity intact and those non-Jews who helped them are the most important witnesses to the resiliency of the human spirit which we now have.

    Credits: 1.00
    Crosslisted: JWST 251 
    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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  • RELG 253 - Sex, Love, and God: Religion and Queer Studies

    A cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary approach to the questions of how the social and cultural significance of sexuality has been shaped by religious discourse, myth, doctrine, and ritual. How have various forms of sexual expression come to be seen as normal, while others are seen as deviant? How has passionate love served as metaphor for the expression of religious experiences, such as the union of the soul with God? How have people thought to “channel” sexual energy to pursue spiritual projects, as in tantra and religious celibacy? Topics of study may include marriage, different- and same-sex love, virginity, celibacy, sacred prostitution, ecstasy and mysticism, and the role of transvestites, transsexuals, androgynes, and third-gender people in religious myth and ritual in contexts such as Christianity, Hinduism, Native American religion, and Islam.

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


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  • RELG 255 - Church, State, and Law in America

    What do we mean when we talk about “the separation of church and state”? Where does this principle originate? Are there exceptions? This course explores the relationship between religion and law in the United States. Students consider the question of what Americans mean when they speak of the separation of church and state, and explore the ways in which the U.S. Supreme Court has attempted to implement this principle within American law. Students examine a variety of influential theories of church-state separation, and read some of the most important First Amendment cases of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Ultimately, this course familiarizes students with some of the most significant voices within today’s church-state debate, and provides them with the tools for an ongoing understanding of religion and law in the United States. This course does not assume any prior knowledge of American religion or American law.

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


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  • RELG 265 - Global Bioethics and Religion

    The revolution in biotechnology has given humanity powers unimaginable a few decades ago. Bioethics within the Western cultural tradition examines moral and ethical dilemmas arising from the interface of human experience and advances in biology, medicine, and technology (human embryonic stem cell applications, cloning, genetic engineering, euthanasia, etc.). Global bioethical inquiry places moral and ethical bioethics deliberations on the international stage, with a focused exploration of diverse and competing transnational theoretical debates. The course undertakes a critical study of comparative religious ethics and global bioethics issues within Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity.

    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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  • RELG 276 - Psychology of Religion

    Examines the ways in which religion has been understood from a variety of psychological perspectives, and inquiries into the merit of these various approaches. By surveying a wide range of psychological literature on the subject, students strive to get a better sense of the ways psychology has understood religion, humanity, and the ways in which people find meaning in the world. Ultimately students consider why human beings are religious and what psychology has to offer in answering this question.

    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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  • RELG 281 - Experiencing Hinduism

    As one of the world’s most ancient, complex, and fascinating religious traditions, the study of Hinduism provides an ideal arena for examining central questions in the study of religion. Through close readings of primary texts in translation, this course focuses on the history of Hindu traditions from their origins to the development of devotional movements in medieval and early modern India. Following a chronological order, these texts include the hymns of the ancient Vedas, the investigations into salvific reality in the Upanishads, the religious epics, devotional poems in praise of gods, religious philosophy (Yoga and Advaita Vedanta), and classical mythology. While exploring the variety of forms Hinduism has taken, the class engages broader questions in the study of religions such as the construction of religious authority, the definition of the good life, conceptions of the soul, differences between elite and non-elite styles of religiosity, and the significance of gender in conceptualizations of the divine.

    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
    Formerly: RELG 322


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  • RELG 282 - Islamic Traditions

    Conceives of Islam as a cumulative tradition beginning with the event of the Qur’an and the paradigmatic example of Prophet Muhammad. The unfolding of this religious tradition is traced through the formation of Shi’a and Sunni schools of Islamic thought, the schools of law, the subtleties of Islamic mysticism, nuances of philosophical thought, and creative artistic expression in the form of calligraphy, music, and poetry. Concludes with two sections: an overview of the multi-faceted responses of Muslims to the challenges of modernity and post-colonialism, and the contemporary debates about the status of Muslim women and their self-understandings.

    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
    Formerly: RELG 328


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