Academic Affairs And Support: Core Course Descriptions

Undergraduate 2021-2022

CORE 115 Common Ground (3) COR
In this course students examine their own role as citizens, and explore historical and current ideas about the common good. Emphasis is placed on the importance of self-knowledge, understanding others and their cultures, and discernment of one's voice in promoting the common good.

CORE 115H HON:Common Ground (3) COR
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Honors Program, Approval of the Honors Program director
Course description as stated in CORE 115 (Honors Course)

CORE 115S Serv Lrng:Common Ground (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 115 or CORE 115H
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 405 The Human Costs of Inequality (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the Core and 90 Hours Total
Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course examines The Human Costs of Inequality, including economic and other forms of inequality in the US and across the globe, the impact of inequality on human health/well-being, productivity, mobility, and other measures, and how a focus on the Common Good can and should inspire us to minimize human suffering.

CORE 410 Core Capstone: International LGBTQ+ Rights (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 hrs. within the Core Curriculum; 90 hrs. total
The Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. Through their work in this course, students will discover some of the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights in the United States and several other developed and developing nations. Students will examine and evaluate some of the legal, cultural, medical, and economic forces and perspectives that prohibit or restrict LGBTQ+ people's rights and will examine the tensions that still exist in many countries, including the US, over inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in civil society.

CORE 410S Serv Lrng: Core Capstone: International LGBTQ+ Rights (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 410
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 424 Deviance, and Discrimination in Sport: Examining the Role of Ethical Leadership (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the CORE and 90 Hours Total; Senior Status with Minimum GPA of 2.5 Required
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course examines global issues and problems in sport from historical, sociological, economic, psychological, political and legal perspectives. Students will explore their own ethics and moral reasoning, as well as the role of leadership in addressing these issues and problems.

CORE 425 Global Human Rights: The Case for Women & Child (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the CORE 90 Hours Total
This capstone course will examine the idea of the individual human right and how this idea has evolved to address the different needs of women and children throughout the world.

CORE 425H Honors; Global Human Rights: The Case for Women & Child (0) CCP
Course description as stated in CORE 425 (Honors Course)

CORE 425S Serv Lrng:Global Human Rights: The Case for Women & Child (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 425
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 426 Capital Punishment:Exploring the Death Penalty (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the CORE and 90 Hours Total; Senior Status with Minimum GPA of 2.5 Required
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course examines capital punishment in the United States through the lens of the common good. In doing so, a variety of social inequities and injustices are discussed. Students will focus on the historical, philosophical, and socio-cultural elements of the death penalty.

CORE 426S Serv Lrng: Capital Punishment: Exploring the Death Penalty (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 426
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 430 Agriculture, Agribusiness, and the Ecology of Food (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the CORE and 90 Hours Total
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. CORE 430 is an inquiry into the ecology, business and ethics of worldwide food production and distribution. The course will begin with an overview of agricultural history, beginning with the agricultural revolution, continuing through agricultural history up until the so-called "Green Revolution" of the 1950s and '60s. We will continue with the study of modern agribusiness and the ethics, economics and ecology of current industrial food production processes, including Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), the issues surrounding pesticides, antibiotics, herbicides and other chemicals upon which industrial agriculture depends, issues surrounding crop diversity, the ecology of monocultures, and the promise and peril of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)in food production. We will end with a study of alternative approaches to food production including "locavore" movements, urban agriculture, and alternative or traditional approaches to the growing of food.

CORE 435 I Plead the 2nd! Examining the Role of Gun Violence in the 21st Century (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 hours in the Core, 90 hours total
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course will examine gun violence from the perspectives of history, public health, public policy and discourse, economics, psychology, rhetorical analysis and crime prevention.

CORE 435S Serv Lrng: I Plead the 2nd! Examining the Role of Gun Violence in the 21st Century (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 435
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 455 Human Rights in the Digital Age (3) CCP
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), negotiated and affirmed by governments of the United Nations, stand as a firm commitment to uphold and protect fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of each person, and the equal rights of men and women. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) present immeasurable opportunities to enable individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting sustainable development and improving quality of life. This course explores relevant sections of the UDHR as applied to the Internet, to examine how the Internet can evolve in a way that further expands and supports these rights. Topics may include: issues of Internet access and use, Information and Computer Technology for Development (ICT4D), copyright and right to educational materials, privacy rights, online defamation, freedom of expression and censorship, right to assembly and right to liberty and security on the Internet.

CORE 455S Serv Lrng: Human Rights in the Digital Age (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 455
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 471 Going Places:Transportation, Oil and Cities (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the Core and 90 Hours Total
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course examines our current transportation habits and their consequences on the environment and the shapes of our communities using social, political, scientific, economic and environmental perspectives. These considerations are used to evaluate present and future solutions to transportation-related problems such as worldwide oil supply and demand, air and water quality, and patterns of land use.

CORE 471H HON:Going Places:Transportation, Oil and Cities (0) CCP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 471
Course description as stated in CORE 471 (Honors Course)

CORE 472 Immigration:Achievements and Perils at the Core of our Nation (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the CORE and 90 Hours Total
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course will examine US immigration from a personal, historical, political, socio-economical, and psychological perspective.

CORE 472H HON:Immigration:Achievements and Perils at the Core of Nation (0) CCP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 472
Course description as stated in CORE 472 (Honors Course)

CORE 472S Serv Lrng:Immigration: Achievements and Perils at the Core of our Nation (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 472
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.

CORE 473 Understanding Poverty (3) CCP
Prerequisite(s): 40 Hours in the CORE and 90 Hours Total
Core Capstone is a culminating interdisciplinary course with a three-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate substantial new learning about a complex global problem; (2) to encourage integration of knowledge, skills, and values from the entire liberal arts and sciences Core Curriculum, including experiential learning, to address that problem; and (3) to strengthen concern and action for the common good as habits of mind. This course will help students understand the phenomenon of poverty by exploring its many aspects: its reality, manifestations, and scope today, in the U.S. and the world; how/why it occurs and is sustained; its broad impacts on life and health; and what is being done or might be done to impact it (on the policy level as well as by organizations, agencies, and citizens).

CORE 473H HON:Understanding Poverty (0) CCP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 473
Course description as stated in CORE 473 (Honors Course)

CORE 473S Serv Lrng:Understanding Poverty (1) EXP
Concurrent requisite(s): CORE 473
Service Learning is an opportunity to engage in service to others while making academic connections to course material. This one credit hour course requires 30 hours of meaningful community service. Students will serve a community partner accomplishing projects relevant to the academic course to which the Service Learning credit is attached. Students will also be required to engage in different forms of reflection such as journaling, group guided reflection, and a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor. Students will develop a greater understanding of social problems, a sense of responsibility to our surrounding communities, and an increased awareness of their own faith and values.