Summer 2024 Course Descriptions
First Summer Undergraduate
ENGS 304-D1 (CRN:30438): “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome“
Professor: Sean Heuston
This course will examine a wide range of written sources (fiction and nonfiction from the Roman Empire to the present) and films that deal with the central issue of the Wellness Strand: how to live a good life. We will read and discuss selections from classic works of nonfiction (including the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning) and fiction (including Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried) and films (such as Apocalypse Now, Bigger, Stronger, Faster*, and Little Dieter Needs to Fly) alongside more recent nonfiction texts about facing and overcoming life’s manifold challenges. In addition to developing a familiarity with our course texts, students will become familiar with related research on aspects of wellness they can apply to their own lives. This course will help you hone your skills as a critical viewer and reader who engages with and questions a variety of challenging texts and issues. In addition to the required texts listed above, we will read and view a wide range of critical essays, news articles, and online resources. Many of the texts will require substantial, careful reading and will give us a great deal of provocative material to discuss, so make sure to look ahead in the syllabus and budget sufficient time to read them thoroughly. You will apply your ideas and insights directly to your chosen area of academic interest and/or specialization by developing a semester-long research project in consultation with me. The course will also help you develop your skills as a writer. I will assign short response papers and a longer essay (the culmination of the semester project), all of which will be related to the texts or issues we read, view, and discuss in class.
SCSS 304-D1 (CRN:30563): “Sports and Exercise Psychology”
Professor: Allison Grace
In this course, students will learn about the basic theories, psychological constructs, and concepts used to understand the social and psychological factors that contribute to individual and group athletic performance. Students will also examine how these social and psychological factors influence overall health, enjoyment, and well-being in sport and exercise settings.
Second Summer
HISS 302-E1 (CRN:30460): “The Crusades”
Professor: Melanie Maddox
Description coming soon!
SCSS 303-E1 (CRN:30564): “Cultural Psychology“
Professor: Audrey Parrish
Description coming soon!
SCSS 304-01 (CRN:30332): “Social Problems”
Professor: Robert McNamara
This course is designed to acquaint students with a fundamental understanding of social problems in American society.
Minimester A
ENGS 302-A1 (CRN:30440): “Wrestling with Evil in Lit and Film“
Professor: E Frame
This course will examine representations of corruption, redemption, and human duality in literature and film. What do we mean by these terms? What can we learn from literary and film depictions of the temptation to treat others as objects, the struggle to overcome despair with hope, and the desire to appear virtuous while indulging secret desires? What does the battle against corruption involve? What are the benefits to the self-condemned when they conquer their shame? What happens when individuals must put on nice faces to each other and fight their weaknesses alone, all to maintain society’s idea of respectability? Students will read three short novellas and view The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941).
NTSS 302-A1 (CRN:30139): “Bioterrorism“
Professor: Kristy Johnson
This course will examine diverse aspects of the creation, use, and response to the weaponization of biological agents. An understanding of the science underlying biological agents is critical to preventing the escalation of biological outbreaks. A detailed study of the biological characteristics of these organisms will be the focus for this course.
Minimester B
NTSS 304-B1 (CRN:30478): “Human Diseases”
Professor: Patrice Capers
What causes human diseases? In NTSS 304, a wellness strand science course, we will explore the general classifications of the causes of disease as well as investigate the disease processes associated with specific diseases and body systems. We will also explore our body’s defense mechanisms to combat diseases and begin to quantify the prevalence of diseases in multiple populations. The purpose of this course is to present a systematic approach and application to the study of human diseases so that the student will be able to use appropriate terminology to describe diseases 2) understand the mechanism and progression of diseases and 3) understand the appropriate treatment options.