Biology - Major in Biology Program

Required courses:
LAW 280 Logic

Logic is the study of valid arguments, arguments whose conclusions follow from their premises. The course teaches the translation of arguments into symbolic logic so that their structure and validity become apparent. It also teaches how to construct proofs of valid arguments and refutations of invalid ones. 3 credits.

POL 120 Law and Society

This course provides an overview of the ways law shapes societies under a variety of democratic and authoritarian systems of government. Democracies pride themselves on a legal system that provides stability and equality of opportuniy. Authoritarian systems likewise use the law to reshape society, often in arbitrary ways that punish certain groups systematically. Fulfills requirement: Civic Engagement. 3 credits.

POL 316 Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

This course uses key cases to study important doctrines established by the Supreme Court with regard to civil rights and civil liberties. Students will examine the Court's rulings concerning the establishment and free exercise of religion, protection of freedom of speech and of the press, privacy rights (abortion and sexual freedom), the rights of the accused in the criminal justice system, and the law governing racial or sexual discrimination. The course places particular emphasis on various forms of textual interpretation used by individual justices to apply the Constitution in deciding cases and writing opinions. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. LAW 215 recommended. 3 credits. (This course is cross-listed with LAW 316)

Three of the following:
HIS 251 Topics in Political History

This course will examine specific topics in political history throughout the world. Topics include: How Fascism Works; Democracy Rising; the Rise of Authoritarianism. This course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. Fulfills requirement: Social Scientific Inquiry,Oral Communication. This course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. 3 credits.

HIS 352 Advanced Topics in History

This seminar will focus on advanced topics in history. Potential topics may include Economic History, the History of Political Ideas, the History of Science; etc . How this topic is represented in the news, popular culture and other forms of public history such as cinema are reviewed. Fulfills requirement: Social Scientific Inquiry. This course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. 3 credits.

HIS 499 Senior Seminar in History

Seminars have a thematic focus, currently the origins, impacts, and responses to the climate crisis. Class meetings include discussions, readings, research methods, and historiography. Students will write a research paper on an aspect of the topic of their choosing utilizing a variety of sources and present their research to the class. Fulfills requirement: Critical Thinking through Writing. Prerequisites: Senior history majors or permission of instructor. 3 credits. (This course is cross-listed with JSTC 286)

JSTC 499 Community, Justice, and Sustainability

This course helps students to meaningfully synthesize into an independent studies project their interdisciplinary major/minor coursework and their overall academic trajectory over several paths of inquiry pertaining to an area of social justice or U.N. sustainable developmental goals (e.g. peace and justice, gender equality, climate, quality education). This project, whether a research paper or a social activist project, will apply Constellation skills (critical reading, interdisciplinary research methods, information literacy, intercultural competencies, problem solving), entail a significant paper, and a general-public component. Meaningful completion of Portfolio Review and Intellectual Autobiography will be part of this process. Fulfills requirement: Integrative Experience. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Connective Experience. This course satisfies requirements of the College Honors program. Enrollment is open to all students. 3 credits.

PHL 210 Ethics for Social Justice

An inquiry into the central problems of values applied to human conduct, with an examination of the responses of major ethical theories to those problems. Fulfills requirement: Critical Thinking through Writing. 3 credits.

POL 201 American Government

American government shapes much of our lives, yet is poorly understood. This course provides an introduction to the theory, practice, evolution and controversies of American government. Fulfills requirement: Civic Engagement. 3 credits.

POL 345 Philosophical Foundations of Politics

Students in this course study the development of Western political thought from Classical Greece to modern times, examining the conceptual evolution of citizenship, civic obligation, and the nature of justice and exploring the connection between moral and positive law in the western tradition. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. 3 credits.