Liberal Studies Undergraduate Courses

This course examines the history of western art from ancient times through the Gothic Period in Western Europe. Through classroom discussions, assigned readings, and, should time allow, museum visits, students will become familiar with the development of a variety of early forms of art. With each new style or period, we will attempt both to describe the works themselves, and investigate the cultural, social, religious, political and personal contexts that surround the object.   [ 4 cr. ]

Continues MET AH 111, but can be taken separately. Chronological survey of European art from the Renaissance to the present. Emphasis on the relation of art to its historical and cultural context.   [ 4 cr. ]

This course is designed to familiarize students with the fundamentals of Digital photography. You will learn how to use the creative controls of a 35 mm DSLR (Digital single lens reflex) camera, expose and process compact flash cards, and print digital images from those digital files. This course covers camera operation, image processing, editing, and Photoshop basics. We will cover digital workflow, editing, creating a filing system, color correction, converting images to black and white, sharpening, and tagging and adjusting resolution. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.  [ 4 cr. ]

The primary goal of this course is to promote critical thinking about photographic images, their meaning and impact on society. This course offers an introduction to the study of photography from it's invention in 1839 to the present. We will engage the following questions: how does photography function as an art form? a social document? and a powerful tool for communication and exploration? Photographic images deeply influence our experiences, decisions, and memories. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course examines the origin and flowering of the Italian Renaissance, including major artistic figures such as Leonardo, Giotto, Michelangelo, and Donatello. We will explore the impact of early scientific inquiry, the fascination with classical antiquity, and the changing role of the artist in society through the visual arts and architecture of Italy.   [ 4 cr. ]

An examination of the new concepts of reality that grew out of the French Revolution, and how these concepts influenced the critical theories of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.  [ 4 cr. ]

Analysis of the work and thought of major masters of twentieth-century painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography, including the School of Paris and the New York School.   [ 4 cr. ]

Program faculty selects seminar topics of current interest, usually with a singular focus, in the field.  [ 4 cr. ]

An examination of the arts institutions, issues, and forces that shape the contemporary art world. Surveys the institutions and actors that comprise the ecology of the art world, and examines significant recent trends within a model of four interrelated spheres: 1) Individual Artists; 2) Government; 3) the Nonprofit Sector; and 4) the Private Sector. Explores how stakeholders connect and interact with each other while engaging with significant institutions and the public to affect the cultural history of our time. Department approval required.  [ 4 cr. ]

This class explores and analyzes the series of historical art movements that encompass the term "Modern Art." By examining the works and thoughts of twentieth- century masters of painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography, this class will explore and discuss the progression of art starting in 1860 and how it culminates in the current art world.   [ 4 cr. ]

This four-credit course (or a MET-approved equivalent) is required for all undergraduate degrees. EN 104 reinforces the communication skills necessary for college work, offering instruction and practice in the fundamentals of critical writing, reading, and thinking. Course requirements include frequent papers and individual conferences. Spring 2024: This semester's course topic will explore the rich history of Boston’s North End from its early settlement in 1630 into the present. We will examine the early development of the neighborhood in the context of Boston’s founding and expansion, as well as its wider national and international context. Topics will include a witchcraft case in the North End and its relationship to the later Salem witchcraft trials; the smallpox epidemic of 1721 and debates over vaccines; Paul Revere and revolutionary Boston; the rise of the Tudor family and the development of the ice trade; the Irish influx and the rise of urban politics; the North End’s Jewish history; and then the incoming of the Italians and their ongoing struggle to maintain a presence in the North End. Sub-topics will include post-World War II Italian immigration, urban decline, organized crime, drug violence, community organization, restaurant tourism, and gentrification. We will write response and analysis papers, summaries, and commentaries, and will work towards a final research paper. If possible, class will include a tour of the North End.  [ 4 cr. ]

Undergraduate Prerequisites: or MET-approved equivalent or exemption. - Topic-based seminar emphasizing advanced critical reading strategies, methods for scholarly research, and models for writing relative to discipline, audience, and rhetorical context. Attention to argumentation, prose style, and revision. Exercises in reflection and self-assessment, peer-review, and one-on-one work with instructor. Fall 2024 topic: AI's Veiled Reflection: Science, Technology, and Otherness in the Era of Intelligent Machines. As ever-new and powerful AI technologies promise to do many things better than humans and much faster, it becomes more urgent than ever to understand what AI is to us and what we are to AI. In this EN201 section, we will explore how the philosophical insights of Heraclitus, the wisdom of indigenous nations, the creative insights of 19th and 20th-century writers like E.T.A Hoffmann and contemporary poets like Joy Harjo and Natasha Marin, and the perspectives of science writers like Ed Yong and Annie Murphy Paul can help us to see that we and AI exist in a universe that is paradoxically both radically constrained and ordered and radically uncertain and free. Is it, then, a world where both AI and human imagination can thrive? Through class readings and handpicked topics for personal essays, we will explore how we might begin to embrace our interrelationships with nature, technology, and each other more as they are and less as our egos would like their unspeakably vast and complex otherness to be. All the while, we will consider the status of the human experience, human imagination, and human endeavors in the age of AI. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing, Research, and Inquiry and Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

Designed mainly for those with little or no experience in creative writing. An introduction to writing in various genres: poetry, fiction, and plays. Students' works discussed in class. Limited enrollment.   [ 4 cr. ]

This is primarily a poetry writing workshop, in which students write and revise their own poetry, and read their peers' poems with generosity, providing constructive feedback. Students also learn to read closely the work of master poets past and present.   [ 4 cr. ]

The writing of short stories and perhaps longer fiction discussed in a workshop setting, including one-on- one meetings to discuss student work.   [ 4 cr. ]

JAMES JOYCE  [ 4 cr. ]

Organization and techniques for effective verbal and written communication in the business environment. Emphasis on developing communication skills through practical written and oral assignments.  [ 4 cr. ]

Representative fiction, poetry, and drama from modern Continental, British, and American writers. Primarily for students not concentrating in English.   [ 4 cr. ]

Selected American writers from the Colonial period to the present. Prose and poetry representative of the American tradition. Primarily for students not concentrating in English.  [ 4 cr. ]

Representative English and American novels from the eighteenth century to the present. Required papers. Primarily for students not concentrating in English. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Aesthetic Exploration.  [ 4 cr. ]

Critical reading of representative English and American poems. Primarily for students not concentrating in English.  [ 4 cr. ]

Critical reading of representative plays from the ancient Greeks to the present. Primarily for students not concentrating in English.  [ 4 cr. ]

A critical introduction to Shakespeare through intensive analyses of six or seven plays. Possible attention to such topics as literary sources, early modern stagecraft, performance history, and contemporary film adaptation.  [ 4 cr. ]

Survey and analysis of cinema as an expressive medium from the silent period to the present. Films are screened weekly and discussed in conjunction with works of literature. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration.   [ 4 cr. ]

Fundamentals of literary analysis and interpretation. Intensive study of selected literary texts. Frequent papers. Limited class size. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy, Writing, Research & Inquiry.  [ 4 cr. ]

Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent) - Introduction to major works of ancient and medieval European literatures that influenced later Continental, English, and American literature: the Bible, Homeric epic, Greek Tragedy, Virgil's Aeneid, and Dante's The Divine Comedy. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration.  [ 4 cr. ]

Prereq: MET HU 221. Beginnings of English literature from Anglo-Saxon period to end of the seventeenth century. Topics include the development of various poetic forms, medieval romance, and British drama. Authors may include Chaucer, Kempe, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, and Milton. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.  [ 4 cr. ]

Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET EN 322 - Overview of English literature between 1700 and 1900. Topics include London as urban center, modern prose fiction, Romantic and Victorian poetry, tensions between religion and science. Authors may include Pope, Swift, Wordsworth, Austen, Dickens, Tennyson, Wilde. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.  [ 4 cr. ]

A century's transformations of drama and stage. Reading and discussion of plays from early realism and expressionism to the theatre of the absurd and present trends: Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, Synge, Pirandello, Brecht, Sartre, Ionesco, Beckett, Genet, Pinter, and others.  [ 4 cr. ]

Modern to contemporary drama since about 1950. Beckett, Genet, Osborne, Wesker, Pinter, Arden, Stoppard, Durrenmatt, Grass, Weiss, Handke, Albee, Miller, Williams, Shepard, and others. Related readings in predecessors, such as Kleist and Artaud, and in less well known contemporaries.  [ 4 cr. ]

Six plays chosen from the following: Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV (Part 1), Troilus and Cressida, As You Like It, Hamlet, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Winter's Tale. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.  [ 4 cr. ]

Six plays chosen from the following: Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Coriolanus, and The Tempest.   [ 4 cr. ]

Prereq: junior or senior standing or one previous literature course. *May be repeated for credit as topics change each semester.*

Fall 2021: "Colonial and Postcolonial Fiction"
In this course, we will examine twentieth-century works of fiction about colonial encounters, and the aftereffects of such encounters, between Europeans and indigenous peoples in India and Africa. Our particular strategy will be to consider differences in literature produced by European authors during the last decades of the age of imperialism--roughly, 1890 to the end of World War II--and literature produced by authors indigenous to formerly colonized areas during the age of decolonization--roughly, post-World War II to the present. We will question how such authors--on either side of these historical and geographic divides--reflect on the practical and moral problems that the colonial project unleashed, as well as on the enduring problems and urgent questions it has left unresolved throughout the world. Works will include Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Forster's A Passage to India, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's A Grain of Wheat, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust, and Upamanyu Chatterjee's English, August: An Indian Story. In addition, we will look at excerpts from important pieces of postcolonial literary theory and criticism to stimulate student reflection, discussion, and writing about what it means to live in the shadow of the colonial past.   [ 4 cr. ]

From beginnings through the nineteenth century. Works by Brown, Cooper, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, James, Howells, and others.   [ 4 cr. ]

In this course we will read and discuss American novels and short stories published between 1900 and 1945. We will examine the roots of "modernism," consider various definitions of modernism, and identify characteristics of modernism in American narratives including short stories and films as well as novels--works by Chesnutt, Chopin, Perkins Gilman, Twain, Dreiser, Anderson, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, Toomer, and Hurston. We will also locate the historical and cultural contexts of these works. Some of these novels were widely read at the time they were published; other works had a more limited distribution, but subsequently have been recognized as valuable contributions to the American literary tradition. We will consider art forms in their larger cultural context and consider what "cultural work" any artistic expression does. How does literature convey the values and attitudes of the people who produce it? And conversely, how does literature influence the values and attitudes of the people who read it?   [ 4 cr. ]

The heritage of Marlowe and Shakespeare: the collapse of a historic world; Jacobean pessimism and decadence in the plays of Jonson, Webster, Middleton, Ford, and others.  [ 4 cr. ]

Surveys the development of Western society and culture from a.d. 1000 to the French Revolution of 1789. Topics include the development of medieval European society and culture, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the scientific revolution, absolutism, enlightened despotism, and eighteenth-century rationalism.   [ 4 cr. ]

A survey of Western society from the French Revolution through World War II, including the Industrial Revolution, nineteenth-century nationalism and imperialism, the rise of working-class movements, international rivalries, and ideological conflict in the twentieth century.   [ 4 cr. ]

Fall 2021, MET HI215 A1- Special Topics: "Politics, Media and Propaganda from World War I to Present"
This course will cover the emergence of powerful new propaganda techniques during WWI and WWII, trace the evolving political uses of radio, cinema, and television during the 20th century and culminate with an exploration of internet culture, social media, and political polarization in the 21st century.   [ 4 cr. ]

This course explores American history from the end of the Revolution up through the Civil War. Particular emphasis is given to debates on the form and role of the both state power and the Federal Government, the evolution of slavery and the abolitionist movement, the impact and outlines of the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of the suffragette movement, immigration and America's role in the world, and the development of a unified popular culture in the US. The events of this period are contextualized by examining various primary sources from the era and exploring different historiographic viewpoints.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course explores US history from Reconstruction through World War II. Emphasis is given to the debate over questions of race and national identity, the Gilded Age and the rise of Modern American industry, the evolution of the Presidency/Federal Government, the Great Depression and the New Deal, the birth/evolution of the modern civil rights and women's rights movements, the creation and expansion of a unified American culture, and America's rise as a global power. These events are contextualized by examining various primary sources and exploring different historiographic viewpoints. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course explores the origins, events, and consequences of the wars in Vietnam from 1945 to 1979. Special emphasis will be given to the causes of American involvement and the reasons for the failures of U.S. policy. The events of the wars are placed in different contexts demonstrating how ideological, diplomatic, social, cultural, and economic considerations influenced the conduct, duration, and end of the war. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

Science and medicine played key roles in helping warfare shape the social and political fabric of the modern world. While war played a critical role in advancing science and medicine, they in turn serviced the demands of societies at war. This course situates science and medicine within broader themes in the social, cultural, and political history of warfare. It takes a flexible case study approach including a range of topics from the development of gun powder, the treatments for PTSD, the discovery of penicillin and the atomic bomb. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

Immigration has made and is remaking America. All Americans, or their ancestors, were at one time immigrants. This course provides a historical survey of this immigration. The first half of the course explores eighteenth- and nineteenth-century immigration movements; the second half focuses on the twentieth century.   [ 4 cr. ]

This course provides a historical survey of key trials in American history and uses them as a lens through which to study American culture and politics. Beginning during the colonial era, we will look at legal battles, both civil and criminal, which were sensational at the time and had a lasting impact. We will examine many cases in-depth including (but not limited to) the Salem Witch trials, the Dred Scott case, the Sacco-Vanzetti murder trial, the Scopes Monkey trial, the Rosenberg Espionage trial, and the Watergate Burglary trials. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the ultimate legal interpreter of the United States Constitution. It is one of the most visible and also most controversial organs of the Federal Government. This course examines the political, legal, and cultural history of the United States through the lens of some of the Court's major rulings. Students will be introduced to the Court's institutional history, several of its major Justices, as well as many landmark decisions on issues such as abortion, free speech, slavery, segregation, immigration and citizenship, and the right to privacy. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

Fall 2021 Special Topic: Presidents and War

While America likes to think of itself as a peaceful nation, America's history is inseparable from war and conflict. The president, as commander-in-chief is inevitably involved in decisions of war and peace, and how to make war once it begins. Why they have chosen to send Americans into combat is a complex story. This course examines the process behind how presidents have committed America to war from independence to today. While this course is one with a heavy focus on military and diplomatic history, it will also examine the evolving relationship between the Congress and the Executive Branch, the evolution of the Executive Branch and the creation of the "National Security State", and the interplay in wartime between the president, the media, and public opinion.   [ 4 cr. ]

The foundations, development, and "fate" of Boston since the colonial period. Explores the architecture, geography, social structure, and economic development of the city, as well as political changes.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course deals with international films about revolution and war, their origins, social consequences, and legacies. It considers films from and about Japan, Africa, India, the Americas and Europe. It explores "the angle of vision" problem in history: who should we trust more, eye-witness accounts, great film recreations, novelists, or traditional historians? Who gets us closest to the "truth" of the human experience and condition?   [ 4 cr. ]

Examines the history of the U.S. through the lens of the United States Supreme Court. The course focuses on the Court's institutional history and functions, its impact on the development of the Constitution, its major rulings, and many of the judges who have served on the nation's highest court. Students will become familiar with controversial legal debates including the changing nature of commerce, slavery, definitions of citizenry, individual rights including the right to privacy, and the dispute over the reach of the Federal Government's power. Finally the course will place the role of the Court within the context of American social, cultural, and political history."   [ 4 cr. ]

HI501 A1: US History 1783-1865. It will cover the US from the end of the Revolution up through the Civil War. Included in this are the debates on the form and role of the Government, the evolution of slavery and the abolitionist movement, the impact and outlines of the industrial revolution, the emergence of the suffragette movement, immigration and America's role in the world, and the development of a unified popular culture in the US.

The 20th century presented the most accelerated period of social evolution in human history: two World Wars were fought; technology developed at a dazzling pace; psychological exploration and scientific discovery assailed traditional conceptions of religion and the nature of reality; the relation of the individual to society fluctuated as new social and political models originated. Our main focus will be the literature and film within this time frame, but parallel developments in art and music will also be discussed. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Social Inquiry I.  [ 4 cr. ]

Sports have come to play a central role within our culture and society. Athletes have come to be revered like god-like figures and have the salaries to prove it. For many people sports represent something very similar to a sort of religious devotion. But should sports play such a significant role in our lives? In this class we will consider the important role that sports play in shaping our culture and our values. In doing so we will also consider other questions: What counts as a sport? What is the point of sport? What happens when sports become more about money than competition and winning? Sports have come to play a central role within our culture and society. Athletes have come to be revered like god-like figures and have the salaries to prove it. For many people sports represent something very similar to a sort of religious devotion. But should sports play such a significant role in our lives? In this class we will consider the important role that sports play in shaping our culture and our values. In doing so we will also consider other questions: What counts as a sport? What is the point of sport? What happens when sports become more about money than competition and winning? Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.  [ 4 cr. ]

This introduction to philosophy revolves around selected films and related texts that provoke serious reflection on issues of knowledge, ethics, and personal identity. The main objective of the course is to provide an introduction to the nature of philosophical inquiry and analysis by exposing the student to specific philosophical problems and issues. By focusing on film as the visual and narrative medium in which these problems and issues emerge, the student will also consider the ways in which art can represent and embody philosophical questions, ideas, and positions. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course is designed to help students use critical thinking about scientific information, including quantitative methods, to evaluate the truth and exaggerations in journalistic and popular media depictions of disease and disease outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course, we will explore biological principles in the context of food. It will focus on biodiversity, evolution, biochemistry, symbioses, and humans in the biosphere. Students will be encouraged to make their own connections about the world of food by learning about biological interactions and relationships. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Scientific Inquiry I.   [ 4 cr. ]

Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 120 or WR 150) - The purpose of the course is threefold: first, to introduce students to a wide variety of essay forms, arranged historically and considered in historical context; second, to provide the opportunity to practice these forms and by imitating models to become more adept and polished writers of the essay, and finally, to explore the theory of the essay, by examining discussions among literary critics concerning the defining characteristics of the genre. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Writing-Intensive Course. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.  [ 4 cr. ]

The course examines the philosophical underpinnings of what it means to be an American and the experiences of ordinary men and women in the making of modern America. It will look closely at the ideas of those who founded the nation and how this affected the idealism which became the American identity. The role of immigration, the change from agrarian to urban industrialized society, the growth and influence of labor unions, the shift of the U.S. from maker to buyer of goods and services, and how the ideological notion of what it means to be American evolved will be examined. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course will explore the science behind new technologies in biology, but it will also address the ethical questions that define and direct the application of these approaches, especially in humans. Students initially will be expected to master the basic biology of DNA, gene expression, and genomics. The course will require students to learn the basic components of ethical theory and apply them to living organisms in general and to human life in particular. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.  [ 4 cr. ]

Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - This interdisciplinary course pairs well-known "classic" texts with more contemporary, perhaps lesser-known works that, in one way or another, respond to the earlier examples. The course focuses on traditions (literary, cinematic, and so forth) to emphasize genre and cultural history, and, as one of its goals, moves toward discussions of aesthetics. The course will examine the timeless quality of any work we consider a "classic" and also challenge the idea of timelessness by thinking about dialogues that exist between centuries and cultures and art. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

Over time and throughout cultures, human understanding of a divine presence, of a god or gods, has been intimately connected to our relationship with nature. This course introduces students to some of the world's mythic traditions, applying them to the enduring cultural issues surrounding humanity's relationship to nature and our role as stewards of the environment. The course will cover the Bible and classical mythology through the writings of Emerson and modern works such as Ceremony by Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, and will explore nature and religion in art from Europe and America. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course will examine the nature of the American Dream through fiction, essays, poetry, autobiography, historical documents, and art. It will follow the Dream evolving from the Puritan fathers' desire for religious freedom to the Revolution's emphasis on political liberty, the 19th century's focus on self reliance, and the quest for the good life characteristic of the 20th century. At the same time, such characteristic thematic elements as the desire for equality and the maturation of the soul will be examined in terms of their impact on different permutations of the American Dream. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community.  [ 4 cr. ]

In this course students will expand their knowledge of the mathematics of probability, algebraic thinking, geometry, and statistics, with a focus on contemporary developments and applications. The course will examine the applications of mathematics in contemporary contexts via readings and explorations. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Quantitative Reasoning II.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course introduces fundamental concepts of micro and macroeconomics within the context of the labor market. In macroeconomics, we focus on the ability of the economy to create enough jobs to maintain full employment. In microeconomics, we focus on the supply and demand for labor, looking at trends in labor force participation, college attendance, and wage differentials. We will also cover recent topics related to the functioning of the labor market, including a discussion of the effects of the most recent recession, and the employment impact of international trade and outsourcing. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.  [ 4 cr. ]

The course will assess whether China will remain a friend or become a foe for the U.S., argue whether China's road to modernization is an apt model for other developing nations, analyze China's past to discover patterns and traditions that still exist, and study the interaction between China and the world community to determine its future role as a world leader. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course will provide students with an introduction to environmental science with a dual focus in physical geography and climatology. Students will learn to interpret major themes in Earth History and human affairs through interactive lessons that include online lectures, outside reading, and extensive online maps, diagrams, and animations. We will discuss the interactions of climate, physical geography, and human activities in the formation of a dynamic, living Earth. We end with biogeochemistry and a look at the origin of life. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Creativity/Innovation.  [ 4 cr. ]

Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar - The indigenous people of North America have a unique experience of negotiating cultural boundaries, alien ideologies, and inscrutable behaviors that appear in everything from personal interactions to national policy, and their own cultural and religious traditions have survived despite a dominant culture that has sought to both annihilate and romanticize them. This course is about that cultural interaction and offers an opportunity to understand Native American cultures in their own terms through the voices of their people, expressing themselves through literature, film and venues. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

Exploration of the question "What is philosophy?' and its self-reflective nature is the foundation of this introductory course. Together we will examine the works of both classical Western philosophers and contemporary authors whose ideas have influenced the development of contemporary Western thought. As sound philosophical inquiry requires questioning the assumptions of every system of thought (including one's own) students will be expected to think critically when reflecting on the social and ethical implications of these ideas in the 21st century. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

This undergraduate communication course incorporates writing skills with academic research. Both business and academic writing expectations are covered. This skills- oriented course focuses on the development of oral and written communication techniques, small and large group dynamics, presentations, and negotiations. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Research and Information Literacy; Writing, Research & Inquiry.  [ 4 cr. ]

This undergraduate communication course incorporates presentation skills with academic research. It reviews the writing standards of IS 401 Ex and covers interpersonal and management communications for professionals. Course writing and presentation assignments will be posted in student ePortfolios. This course is set in the context of communications skills for professionals.   [ 4 cr. ]

This course will focus on controversial and critical social, environmental, business, and political issues in the various disciplines of science. The natural sciences will be explored in the context of public policy. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.   [ 4 cr. ]

Traditional American music is a dynamic cultural medium that defines identity and community. It is transmitted by long-practiced modes of observation and imitation, and it engages talented musicians who are part of a long-lived cultural continuum. It is based upon a collective understanding of what tradition is, but it is necessarily altered in each generation as new musicians bring their training, insights, talents, and instruments to the process. How traditional music has evolved into the current popular American musical forms, will be explored in lectures, musical examples and readings. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Research and Information Literacy.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course will examine morality through three related yet different lenses: psychology, religion and spirituality. With war, terrorism, global climate change, geological disruptions, and other threats, humans tend to feel more vulnerable, more insecure, and to seek deeper understandings of themselves and their world. Accordingly, issues such as abortion, capital punishment, and stem-cell research take on new meanings as morality evolves with culture. How do we develop a moral understanding of what is appropriate behavior for ourselves and others around us? Is morality carved in stone or is it subject to change, depending upon life experience, religion, secular and social orientation, and other factors? The goal of this course is not to definitively answer questions but to generate them; not to agree on moral issues, but to facilitate understanding of others views; not to criticize, but to comprehend the strengths and limitations of each paradigm.   [ 4 cr. ]

The art of rhetoric is one of the original liberal arts and is a part of the trivium that includes grammar and logic. Rhetoric is as old as human communication and as diverse as the human imagination. In the twenty-first century, rhetoric has new forms and meanings but retains some of the dynamics of the classical age of Greece and Rome. This course is a study of the art of rhetoric in everyday life and work from both theoretical and practical perspectives with an emphasis on writing and interpretation. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

This seminar explores the psycho/social/spiritual dimensions of the individual's experience of forgiveness. The forgiveness process is investigated through the theoretical work of psychologists such as Carl Jung and Robert Enright and spiritual/political leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Individual narratives by forgivers are considered and analyzed in relation to the frames provided by these researchers and political activists. Through readings, journals and group presentations, students will explore both the beneficial and problematic aspects of forgiving. Students will develop a warranted, personal position on forgiveness and its limitations in personal and social life.  [ 4 cr. ]

Online offering. Introduces students to practical problems in botany with a dual emphasis on plant evolution and plants in human affairs. The course crosses borders in time and geography as we examine the broad sweep of plants and their role on Earth over the past 300 million years. Plant form and function, evolution of seed plants, plant ecology, ethnobotany (human uses of plants), endangered plant communities, and prospects for conserving plant biodiversity are highlighted in this interdisciplinary course designed for undergraduates. While its focus is rigorously scientific, the course incor Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Scientific Inquiry I.  [ 4 cr. ]

This course explores various currents, paradoxes, and extensions of Romanticism, especially as this movement took shape in Europe and America, with a special focus on philosophical literature and the visual arts. We will begin with some central ideas and themes of German Romantic thinkers, exploring how these ideas and themes are also evoked by British and American writers as well as by European and American painters. We will identify and analyze Romantic themes and styles in early German expressionist films, in British gothic fantasy movies, and in American motion pictures about western front Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Aesthetic Exploration.   [ 4 cr. ]

From the Egyptian Pyramids to the recently discovered enigma of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, this course examines archaeological highlights through the ages, focusing on humanity's most enduring ancient mysteries. Beginning with the historical roots of the discipline, and culminating with an analysis of the emergence and spread of civilization in both the Old and New Worlds, this course critically evaluates conventional paradigms and explores how newly discovered or reinterpreted sites fit into, or challenge the current framework. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry I.  [ 4 cr. ]

Mechanics is the study of the motion of objects and the forces acting on objects. It is hoped that the student will share some of the excitement felt by great scientists such as Galileo and Newton when they discovered many of the principles on which the physics of motion are based. The course assumes that the student has a working knowledge of algebra, but the emphasis will be on a conceptual understanding of physics rather than on advanced mathematics. Many demonstrations and animations will be presented in the course. Students will become familiar with the physics of everyday situations. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Scientific Inquiry I.  [ 4 cr. ]

Independent study under faculty guidance. Prior approval of program director required.  [ Var cr. ]

Independent study under faculty guidance. Prior approval of program director required.  [ Var cr. ]

Introduction to classical philosophical problems concerning human nature and knowledge, freedom and morality, and reason and justice.   [ 4 cr. ]

Introduction to the life and thought of five preeminent philosophers from classical times through the modern era.  [ 4 cr. ]

Many of us want to lead meaningful lives. But what is it for a life to be meaningful? What makes some lives better or more meaningful than others? Can life as a whole have some significance or meaning? Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]

A systematic study of the principles of both deductive and informal reasoning, with an emphasis on reasoning and argumentation in ordinary discourse.   [ 4 cr. ]

Analysis of existentialism as a movement or orientation in contemporary philosophy. Topics include contingency and the grounds for belief and value; depth, superficiality, and the intense life; commitment and open- mindedness; tragedy and the healthy self; boredom, anxiety, and adventure; and existentialism as a philosophy of the possible. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.  [ 4 cr. ]