EXPLORING TRANSFER COURSES
Philosophy
18x. Global Ethics and Cosmopolitanism: Concepts of Identity, Citizenship and Nation. This course critically examines philosophical and practical issues in global ethics, engaging students to examine, explore and contemplate such ethical issues as globalization and backlash, identity and citizenship (ethnic, religious, national and cosmopolitan), human rights, self-determination, global non-governmental organizations (NGOs), global environment and sustainability, world health, and global governance.
Chemistry
181. Forensic Chemistry. This course will provide students a theoretical understanding of underlying chemistry concepts in the study and characterization of molecular properties. Emphasis will be placed on students learning chemistry through a variety of venues, from lectures, laboratory experimentation, cooperative group projects, critical analysis and interpretation of data, case studies, guest speaker lectures, and written assignments and oral presentations. In the laboratory, students will apply several scientific methods to analyze and evaluate evidence pertaining to crime scene investigation, fingerprint analysis, paint and glass analysis, identification of organic and inorganic compounds, and hair and fiber analysis. The analytical methods to be covered to study forensics evidence will include basic characterization methods to determine physical properties of organic compounds, microscopy, drug screens by thin layer chromatography (TLC), titrations, alcohol analysis by gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF).
History
18x. Writing Historical Fiction. This course will focus on the many facets of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56, and use history as a backdrop to create a fictional character with a unique perspective on this event and moment. Students will learn to combine history, visual storytelling and dramatic writing to create a compelling story that will enable them to gain a deeper understanding of this event, beyond the iconic national narrative centered on Rosa Parks. Through a set of primary sources such as interviews, transcripts, diaries, letters and flyers, students will examine the boycott from multiple perspectives. Specific attention will be given to the organizing strategies, national and local figures, and nuances of movement politics that sustained a yearlong boycott of the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Students will learn the art and craft of screenwriting, and as a final project, create a script that parallels their character’s crisis with any aspect of the boycott.
Physics
18x. Physics through Media. Much of the study of physics is about motion, yet traditional curricula are often static and not very relevant to the world we live in. This course will use the technology of digital video analysis to “discover physics” in the motion of everyday objects. Initial investigations will introduce students to the science and the technology to analyze motion and create movies and other instructional materials to be shared in class. We will use software like Final Cut, iMovie, iDVD and PowerPoint throughout the entire course. Projects will start out simple (like PowerPoint presentations) and progress to a final project where a DVD, podcast and/or YouTube video illustrating the physics principles for a general audience is produced. The primary pedagogical goal is making a visual connection with the motion in the movies to the graphs of various quantities of interest in physics. Students will also have to use their common or experiential sense coupled with their “physics sense” to extract useful information.
Sociology
188. Sociology through Literature. The course combines literature and sociology as a way to deepen our understanding of social institutions and processes. We will use the analytical frames of classical sociologists, 19th and early 20th century sociologists such as Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and W. E. B. Du Bois, in addition to more contemporary social theorists, to examine various genres of literature. As we use the various sociological theories to analyze our "literary data", we hope that you will come to appreciate the intellectual power, beauty and passion of these ideas, as well as the skill and creativity of the writers as they provide us with incandescent views of various social worlds.