Apr 30, 2024  
2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

 

Nursing
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Petroleum Engineering
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Philosophy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • PHIL 2203 - Philosophy of Race and Racism

    3 (3-0)

    This course explores various philosophical issues pertaining to race and racism. The first part of the course will focus on the history of the concept of “race” as well as various approaches philosophers have taken to defining and analyzing this concept. The second part of the course will consider the political, social, economic, and cultural implications of race with particular emphasis on the concept of “racism” and related concepts such as white privilege, white supremacy, and unconscious bias. Questions to be discussed throughout the semester include, but are not limited to: What is race? How does race differ from ethnicity, national origin, cultural affiliation, and other forms of collective identity? What is the relationship between race and other aspects of social identity such as class, gender, and sexual orientation? Are racial differences biological in nature, or are they socially constructed? Can value judgments about racial differences be intellectually and morally justified, or are such judgments objectionable by definition? What is racism/racial privilege? What are the different forms of racism and how do they relate to one another? What are the underlying causes of racism? What are the best strategies for combating racism? Throughout the course special attention will be given to recent political and social controversies surrounding race/racism such as police brutality, mass incarceration, racial inequality, post-racialism and “color-blindness,” etc.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

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    Click here for the Fall 2024 Schedule of Classes
  
  
  
  
  

  • PHIL 3013 - How I Create the World

    3 (3-0)

    Modern theories of the human mind place an extraordinary emphasis on the way in which our thoughts and language shape the way the world appears to us. Our freedom to create the world as we see fit and the responsibility we share for bringing into existence a world either just or unjust has been a central concern of philosophies that have been called “existential.” This course will trace the history of these ontological questions with a special focus on human freedom, our ability to shape and determine world history through language, and our responsibilities as agents of change. As creators, we are both free and hopelessly burdened by the weight of our choices. In do so doing, it will introduce students to philosophy’s longstanding struggle to make sense of this creative freedom that binds us together.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

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    Click here for the Summer II 2024 Schedule of Classes

    Click here for the Fall 2024 Schedule of Classes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • PHIL 3103 - The Meaning and Value of Art

    3 (3-0)

    Prerequisite(s): Communication Core  complete.

    Art is among the pillars of human civilization. From cave paintings, to ornate buildings and architecture, to portraiture, landscape paintings, and sculpture, art has shaped how humans interpret their world and render it meaningful. This course will explore the place of art in human culture by thinking through the ways in which art derives its meaning and value. Among other things, it will discuss the validity of distinctions between “high” and “low” art, examine the role of technology and technique in the creation of art works, and consider the boundaries of art as new media challenge our pre-existing ideas about what art is and should be. Are video games art? What about TV and popular film? Through an in-depth exploration of these and other questions, students will acquire a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the philosophical complexities surrounding the creation and enjoyment of art.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

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    Click here for the Fall 2024 Schedule of Classes
  

  • PHIL 3133 - Existence, Language, History: Twentieth-Century European Philosophy

    3 (3-0)

    Prerequisite(s): Communication Core  complete and 3 hours of prior philosophy coursework or permission of instructor.

    Europe in the twentieth century was a continent in crisis. Two world wars and a devastating economic depression killed or displaced millions of people and the role of science in spreading devastation on ever-greater scales left philosophers grappling with the very foundations of Western culture. This course will explore the major trends in twentieth-century European philosophy, widely known as the Continental tradition. We will investigate the ways in which Continental thinkers grappled with the crises of their times by (1) developing new philosophical methodologies such as phenomenology; (2) questioning the meaning and value of existence itself; (3) engaging with the power of our shared histories and their promises for the future; and (4) pushing on the limits of our language and its capacity to adequately capture a picture of the world and our place in it.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

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    Click here for the Summer II 2024 Schedule of Classes

    Click here for the Fall 2024 Schedule of Classes
  

  • PHIL 3233 - Reason, Evidence, Faith: Early Modern Philosophy (1640-1800)

    3 (3-0)

    (formerly 2433)

    Prerequisite(s): Communication Core  complete and 3 hours of prior philosophy coursework or permission of instructor.

    During the Enlightenment, humans developed powerful new ways of exploring the world through science and technological manipulation. In 1641, Descartes laid the groundwork for what will be known as the Age of Reason. This course will explore the emergence of the rationalist tradition, which claimed that all knowledge could be established through reason alone. Competing with this view is empiricism, the evidence based philosophy claiming that all knowledge comes from the senses alone. Students will learn how these theories of knowledge shaped the world, introducing new scientific concepts and political ideas that continue to impact our lives in profound and dramatic ways. Throughout the course, we will see philosophers attempt to balance their faith in God with their emerging scientific discoveries and find a place for religion within a uniquely rational universe.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

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  • PHIL 3333 - The Rise and Fall of Reason: Nineteenth Century Philosophy

    3 (3-0)

    Prerequisite(s): Communication Core  complete and 3 hours of prior philosophy coursework or permission of instructor.

    At the beginning of the nineteenth century, philosophy had developed a nearly unshakable conviction that our powers of reason would unlock all the mysteries of existence. This course will examine the astonishing heights of reason as developed in German idealism, as well as the skeptical backlash against this abstract and otherworldly project. The romantics offer a counterpoint to the worship of reason by pursuing the mystery and wonder of nature and its irrational, sometimes nightmarish, power to create and destroy without regard to human beings. These theoretical vistas have a profound impact on the development of social and political thought well into the twentieth century. Students will see the tumultuous philosophical development of the nineteenth century, which lays the groundwork for important philosophical theories alive today, such as structuralism, postmodernism, and deconstruction.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

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    Click here for the Summer II 2024 Schedule of Classes

    Click here for the Fall 2024 Schedule of Classes
  

  • PHIL 3433 - Meaning, Rebellion, Freedom: Existential Philosophy

    3 (3-0)

    Prerequisite(s): Communication Core  complete and 3 hours of prior philosophy coursework or permission of instructor.

    Existentialism is a philosophical tradition that struggles with the meaning of life, the value and nature of human freedom, and our response to the possibility of an absurd world. This course explores the philosophical responses to these questions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will grapple with whether or not humans are free, and what that means for our moral obligations. We will also think critically about suicide as a response to life’s potential meaninglessness, and both religious and atheistic responses to the possibility that human existence is absurd. Throughout the course we will engage with philosophy’s essential rebelliousness against human feelings of despair and anxiety about the meaning of our lives.


    Click here for the Spring 2024 Schedule of Classes

    Click here for the Summer I 2024 Schedule of Classes

    Click here for the Summer II 2024 Schedule of Classes

    Click here for the Fall 2024 Schedule of Classes
  
  

Physics
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Political Science
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 

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