2018-2019 Academic Catalog 
    
    May 09, 2024  
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2018-2019 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses of Instruction

 

Practice

These courses provide students with opportunities to become producers, not merely consumers, of print, video, digital, and audio information.  Each course gives students in-depth opportunities to put theory into practice in research, writing, or digital media production.
  

  • COM 216 - Communication & Public Relations

    1 course unit
    Explores public relations from a critical perspective with emphasis on communication theory and research into public relations practices.  Topics include the origins and development of public relations, its role in society, principles of public relations theory and practice, and the ethical issues raised by various philosophies and practices of public relations.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 201 Media & Society .
  

  • COM 256 - Introduction to Interactive Web Design

    1 course unit
    This course explores how (and what it means) to create, design, and build your own digital online cyberspace environment.  The class focuses on visual (game) encounters, virtual reality, and mobile media.  Students map out original project idea(s) learning and using multimedia apps and HTML code.  This course is for students exploring the convergence of art, music, film, and media.  Working on their projects, students learn the skills for conceiving, designing, and constructing a Web 2.0 (interactive) environment.  This class does not require students to have any pre-existing design skills or computer knowledge. 
    Meets general academic requirement AR and is a cluster course.
  
  

  • COM 334 - Health Communication

    1 course unit
    Examines interpersonal as well as mediated dimensions of health communication, including theories and case studies that address issues in physician and patient communication; gender, race, and cultural constituents in health communication; social marketing techniques for the production, distribution, and assessment of health-care information; the design and implementation of public health campaigns; and the use of communication technologies in the production of health communications.
  

  • COM 336, 337 - Environmental Communication

    1 course unit
    Explores theories, models, and strategies for production and assessment of environmental communications.  Examines environmental media and campaigns; provides students with skills to identify and solve problems in environmental communications and in the production of environmental media.  Emphasizes writing.
    Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 337.
  

  • COM 338 - Organizational Communication

    1 course unit
    Explores theories, models, and strategies for internal and external communication within organizations.  The constituents, constraints, values, practices, and media of organizational cultures are investigated from historical, cross-cultural, and contemporary practices.  Primary emphasis is on the corporate experience in the United States.
  

  • COM 349 - Media Advocacy

    1 course unit
    This course introduces students to the strategic use of media to advance social and public health initiatives. Students will investigate principles, ethics, and theories underlying media advocacy; monitor and analyze framing and message development; and use both traditional and new communication tools to construct and implement media interventions, messages and/or campaigns to address public health problems and social justice issues. Students will participate in a service learning opportunity in partnership with a not-for-profit organization in the Lehigh Valley.
    Meets general academic requirement IL.
  

  • COM 351 - Video Production

    1 course unit
    Refines an understanding of video/television concepts and operations through the application of advanced production techniques.  Provides hands-on experience beginning with the development of a professional project, treatment, script, and storyboard.  Focuses on production tools and skills, class workshops, and outside exercises that facilitate becoming comfortable with camera and editing equipment and with the overall production process.  Conceiving, coordinating, shooting, and editing the project, production teams will encounter real-time pressure and problem-solving situations.
    Required lab.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 251 - Introduction to Moviemaking .
  

  • COM 361 - Radio Production

    1 course unit
    Introduces the tools, techniques, and principles of radio production.  Students develop awareness of sound, the ability to structure information on the radio, and the capacity to sustain attention and build an audio documentary.  Students will plan, produce, and evaluate audio projects in a variety of modes, including news, documentary, dramatic, and commercial.
  

  • COM 367 - Studio Workshop in Television & Film

    1 course unit
    Beginning with a survey of the promise and demands, historical, economic, and political circumstances surrounding community television, this course broadens students’ exposure to television formats beyond mainstream commercial media.  The course examines the history and innovation of community television in the United States and overseas.  It provides students an opportunity to explore how to channel ideas into practice by expanding students’ established skills (research, writing, scripting, producing, directing, multi-camera and audio strategies, staging and lighting, post-production).  Toward that goal, the course engages students in the production of a regular series of documentary, narrative, and experimental television and film projects that will be realized during a multi-week intensive studio experience.  Multimedia and interdisciplinary projects involving theatre, art, dance, and music will be welcome.
    Prerequisite(s):   COM 251 Introduction to Moviemaking  recommended.
  

  • COM 376, 377 - Youth Media

    1 course unit
    This course introduces students to the theory, practice, and impact of youth media programs in local and international contexts.  Students will also use media production to participate in fieldwork activities that contribute to HYPE, a media/youth development program housed in the department of Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College.  Class projects will document and explore the possibilities of media making to promote young people’s twenty-first century skills of digital communication and critical literacy, and their participation as agents of community change.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 201 Media & Society  and COM 231 Documentary Research .
    Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 377.
  

  • COM 431 - Documentary Field Work

    1 course unit
    Documentary Field Work develops advanced skills in documentary inquiry and practice.  Provides tools and opportunities for developing skills in interviewing for archival, journalistic (print and electronic), social scientific, and administrative purposes. Introduces the principles and practices that archivists and records managers apply, including appraisal, arrangement, preservation, and management. Course is organized using an interconnected design 1) to identify, select, organize, preserve, and make accessible historical materials in a variety of archival formats to the public at large and 2) to design and develop of individual or group documentary projects in selected media.  Completed project(s) will be exhibited in some campus or public forum and online.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 231 Documentary Research  or instructor permission.
    Meets general academic requirement IL.

Individualized Instruction
  

  • COM 960 - Communication Internship

    1 course unit
    Designed to provide both an educational experience and an opportunity to work with professionals in practical preparation for a career; the internship includes a significant academic (written and/or production) component.  Under faculty supervision, students will serve as interns with newspapers, television and radio stations, advertising agencies, public relations firms, publishers, health, environmental, sports, and human and public service organizations.  Students must have completed the sophomore year.  Does not count toward the nine courses required by the major.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 231 Documentary Research  and instructor permission.
  

  • COM 970 - Media and Communication Independent Study/Research

    Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.  
     

CUE Courses
  

  • COM 401 - CUE: Seminar in Media & Communication

    1 course unit
    Each seminar has its own focal topic and includes an inquiry-driven project requiring students to generate an integrative research or grant proposal and oral presentation about their proposal.  The grant proposal is designed to build on the core scholarly-knowledge assignments in the department’s required-course sequence.  Focal topics may include children and communication, media reform, race and representation, media and the home, or media and social theory.  The Seminar in Media and Communication is offered at least once a semester by different members of the department on a rotating basis.
    Seniors only
    Prerequisite(s): COM 301 Media Theory & Methods  
  

  • COM 467 - CUE: Advanced Video Production

    1 course unit
    Students explore the convergence of video and digital media while studying the problems of constructing narrative and documentary texts within emerging experimental formats.  Through their research-production projects, students learn to work with more advanced visual and organizational concepts and tools.  Legal and ethical issues involved in media production are considered.  Students present ongoing work and final projects in either an online or broadcast venue.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 351 Video Production  
  

  • COM 470 - CUE: Media & Communication Honors Seminar

    1 course unit
    Each year this course will have a different thematic focus which will allow honors and non-honors seniors to engage with faculty and visiting lecturers in challenging dialogues and research experiences, culminating in the production and presentation of an original research project or creative work based on the seminar theme.  Provides students with extensive opportunities to work closely with faculty mentors in developing their research project and creative work.
    Prerequisite(s): Enrollment limited to majors during the senior year.
  

  • COM 490 - CUE: Digital Media Design Lab

    1 course unit
    Students plan, develop, produce, and present CUE productions (whether video, web-based, digital storytelling, audio, animation, documentary, print, or multimedia) in a collaborative workshop setting.  Students planning to enroll in this course prepare a project proposal to be approved by a CUE faculty advisor late in the junior year.  Students design and develop a website, blog, e-book, or e-portfolio to present themselves as graduates prepared for positions in media related fields or students prepared for advanced graduate study in the discipline.  They build their websites/e-portfolios to include representative work - writing, research, media artifacts - as well as representations of learning in the context of co-curricular activities (community service, student organizations, etc.), internship profiles, and study abroad reflections.
    Prerequisite(s): Enrollment limited to majors during the senior year.
  

  • COM 965 - CUE: Communication Practicum

    1 course unit
    Designed to provide both an educational experience and an opportunity to work with professionals in practical preparation for a career, the practicum includes a significant academic (written and/or production) component.  Under faculty supervision, students will serve as interns with newspapers, television and radio stations, advertising agencies, public relations firms, publishers, health, environmental, sports, and human and public service organizations.
    Prerequisite(s): COM 231 - Documentary Research  and instructor permission; enrollment limited to majors during the senior year.

Muhlenberg Scholars
  

  • MBS 450 - Muhlenberg Scholars Capstone Seminar

    1 course unit
    An advanced, Capstone seminar in which Muhlenberg Scholars critically and constructively engage with questions of enduring, human significance. The principal goal of the seminar is to foster intellectual exploration and greater self-understanding in community through dialogue, critical analysis, and creative problem solving. By the end of the term, students are expected to produce a substantial scholarly project that explores the issues raised in the seminar.

Music
  

  • MUS 101 - Introduction to Music

    1 course unit
    This course focuses on Western music in its historical and cultural contexts while also introducing students to issues of music perception, taste and musical values, and the role of music in our everyday lives.  The emphasis is on Western art music (beginning with music of the Middle Ages through the present), but students will also explore current popular music.  By understanding more about the musical past, students will deepen their connection to and understanding of the musical present.  No musical background is needed.  May not be counted toward the music major or minor.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 102 - Fundamentals of Music

    1 course unit
    An introductory survey of the elements of music: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone color, form, and expression.  Skill development in reading, writing, listening, and analyzing music are applied to performance, composition, and an understanding of cultural influences on these practices.  Analytical studies in various styles and periods are included and connected to the other arts, which may include poetry and the visual arts.  Primarily for students without extensive musical training.  This course can be used as preparation for Music Theory I.  May not be counted toward the music major or minor.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 111 - Music Theory I

    1 course unit
    The foundational course in music theory introduces the materials and structural elements of tonal music: scales, key signatures, intervals, chords, rhythm and meter, and the principles of voice-leading and harmonic progression.  Students will develop conceptual, aural, and keyboard skills; incorporate those skills into listening and analysis; and connect the concepts of music theory with interpretation and performance.
    Prerequisite(s): Ability to read music is assumed.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 112 - Music Theory II

    1 course unit
    Continued development of skills from Music Theory I and introduction to additional concepts: small forms, non-chord tones, seventh chords, secondary functions, and modulation.  Increased emphasis on listening and analysis and integrating theory and performance.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 111 Music Theory I  or exam.
  

  • MUS 140 - Introduction to Electroacoustic Music

    1 course unit
    A study of the development and practice of electroacoustic music from its earliest forms in Europe and the United States.  Included will be the early history of electronic instrument design, the tape studio, and the arrival of early digital technologies including MIDI.  Introduction to sequencing programs such as Digital Performer.  Individual and class projects in basic synthesis techniques and hardware sampling.  Reading, listening, and composition projects.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 211 - Music Theory III

    1 course unit
    Further development of skills and the study of chromatic harmony: altered chords and borrowed chords, modulation to distant keys, and extended chromatic techniques.  Introduction to twentieth century compositional procedures and analytical techniques.  Analysis includes logical reasoning and argumentation.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 112 Music Theory II .
  

  • MUS 215 - Music & Gender

    1 course unit
    This course is an interdisciplinary survey of the history of women in music.  From Sappho in ancient Greece to today’s pop divas, women have been active as composers, performers, patrons, teachers, and scholars.  As the subject of musical works, women have been alternately deified, as in opera, and vilified, as in Eminem’s rap songs.  As we study the roles of women in music, we will investigate the origins of feminist music criticism and consider the future of feminist thought in music.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 217 - American Music

    1 course unit
    The subject of this course is vernacular and cultivated music of the United States from the Colonial period to the present.  Students will come to understand how musical life not only reflected contemporary issues and events, but actively shaped them, exerting a powerful influence on American history and culture.  Topics may include sacred and secular vocal and instrumental music; the musical traditions of African Americans, Native Americans, Latino Americans, and Anglo-Celtic Americans, among others; the influence of European and African practices in concert music and jazz; and the rise of musical institutions in the context of the developing nation.  Students may undertake an archival assignment using Special Collections in Trexler Library and complete a culminating research project on music in the Lehigh Valley.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 219 - Opera

    1 course unit
    This course approaches opera from an interdisciplinary perspective, celebrating the genre as one that brings together music, literature, drama, performance, and design.  Course repertory will explore opera from its origins to the present, with greatest attention to works by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Debussy, Berg, and Adams.  Reading, listening, and viewing assignments; course may include field trips to performances; reviews; semester project.
    Offered every other year.
    Prerequisite(s): Ability to read music or permission of the instructor.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 221 - Western Music History I: Medieval to 1750

    1 course unit
    This course concerns the history of music from the early Christian period through the mid-eighteenth century and addresses current debates in historical musicology.  Readings, score analysis, listening, and writing assignments trace the development of composition and performance practices and their relationship to cultural and intellectual perspectives.  In these ways, students will consider music as a way of knowing our world and the composers, performers, patrons, and listeners who made this music possible.  Topics may include Gregorian chant, the development of polyphony, sacred and secular vocal music during the Renaissance, the rise of national styles, the music of the Lutheran Baroque, ending with the High Baroque, and music by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Fredric Handel.
    Meets general academic requirements AR and W.
  

  • MUS 222 - Western Music History II: 1750 to the Present

    1 course unit
    This course concerns the history of music from the mid-eighteenth century through the present and addresses current debates in historical musicology.  Readings, score analysis, listening, and writing assignments trace the development of composition and performance practices and their relationship to cultural and intellectual perspectives.  In these ways, students will consider music as a way of knowing our world and the composers, performers, patrons, and listeners who made this music possible.  Topics may include mid-eighteenth century musical styles and schools, the Viennese classicists (Haydn and Mozart), Beethoven and the Romantic expansion of form and technique, opera, the beginnings of modernism (Debussy, Stravinsky), and more recent developments since World War II extending into the twenty-first century.
    Meets general academic requirements AR and W.
  

  • MUS 223 - Jazz Theory & Improvisation

    1 course unit
    A study of improvisational techniques from the jazz tradition.  Readings and listening assignments; analysis and performance projects; semester project.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 112 Music Theory II .
  

  • MUS 229 - World Music

    1 course unit
    A study of the role of music and musical-theoretical systems in non-Western cultures.  Class discussions based on primary and secondary source readings and writing assignments are balanced with music practicums to insure musical-theoretical, historical, and cultural issues are grounded in musical performance.  Issues of authenticity, power, and cultural confluences are examined through a variety of methodological approaches to develop analytical and creative thinking skills.  A culminating research paper and aural presentation provide students with an opportunity to explore an area of their own interest in greater depth, refine their written and aural communication skills, and increase breadth of knowledge for the entire class.
    Prerequisite(s): Ability to read music or permission of the instructor.
    Meets general academic requirements AR and DE and the IL requirement.
  

  • MUS 235 - History of Jazz

    1 course unit
    A study of Jazz that traces its roots and origins from late nineteenth century blues and ragtime to recent innovations in the twenty-first century.  Swing, the big band era, bebop, modal jazz, free jazz, and “modern” jazz will be explored through primary and secondary source readings, score analysis, class discussions, writing, and listening assignments that examine technical, cultural, and performance issues.  Topics will include gender, race, representation, power, authenticity, and identity.  Various approaches to improvisation will be considered relative to compositional and theoretical strategies, historical and cultural trends, and performance practices to facilitate the development of analytical and creative thinking.
    Prerequisite(s): Ability to read music or permission of the instructor.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 237 - Pop, Rock, & Soul

    1 course unit
    In this course, students will explore the vital role of popular music in U.S. society, gaining a deeper understanding of this music’s relationship to politics, the marketplace, technology, and racial, sexual, and class identities.  Students will develop music analytical skills to help them identify key stylistic features of pop music’s various genres, including rhythm & blues, rockabilly, doo-wop, soul, folk rock, psychedelia, progressive rock, funk, disco, new wave, and hip hop.  Throughout the semester, we will investigate these styles by studying a repertory of hits by performers and producers including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Phil Spector, The Supremes, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, The Clash, and Public Enemy.  In discussions, listening exercises, and writing assignments, students will engage with recent scholarship from the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, history, sociology, and popular culture studies.
    Meets general academic requirement AR.
  

  • MUS 238 - Empire, Madness, & Decadence in Viennese Music

    1 course unit
    In this course, paired with GRM 257 Freud’s Vienna , we examine music in Vienna (and beyond to the broader Hapsburg empire) from the time of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the early interwar era.  By focusing on a relatively narrow temporal and geographical span, we are able to closely examine the ways in which historical and cultural debates shaped and were shaped by musical works.  The questions that will shape our discussions include:  What does Beethoven Symphony no. 9 mean for the future of the genre?  What role do composers play in shaping ideas about identity in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual state like the Hapsburg empire?  What correlations do musical events in discourses have?  How are political trends - Viennese liberalism and the reaction against it - reflected in musical works and in the discourse about them?  What consequences did the revolutions in thought about psychoanalysis, gender, and sexuality have for musical works, and how did musical works shape the ways these ideas were disseminated and understood?
    Meets general academic requirement HU and is a cluster course and a linked (IL) course.
  

  • MUS 240 - Computer & Algorithmic Music

    1 course unit
    Continuing study of computer applications used in various musical settings.  These will include sequencing programs such as Digital Performer, live performance programs such as Ableton Live, interactive programs MaxMSP, and recording software Pro Tools.  Periodic quizzes on programs and composition projects.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 140 - Introduction to Electroacoustic Music  or permission of the instructor.
  

  • MUS 313 - Form & Analysis

    1 course unit
    A study of musical forms from the smallest units of sectional forms (motive, phrase) through binary, ternary, rondo, and sonata forms.  Analysis of music of all common-practice periods embodying various structural principles and incorporating historical context and performance implications.  Extensive analysis and listening; may include reading and writing assignments.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 211 - Music Theory III .
  

  • MUS 317 - Counterpoint

    1 course unit
    A study of composition focusing on the contrapuntal practices of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  Readings from historical treatises and secondary source readings, analysis of selected compositions addressing technical, performance, and musical-rhetorical issues.  Intensive written exercises leading to several compositional projects.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 112 Music Theory II  or permission of the instructor.
  

  • MUS 331 - The English Ayre

    1 course unit
    A study of the English Ayre and its cultural role in late-Elizabethan and Jacobean England.  This course will examine the structural and rhetorical practices shared by poets and composers, applying analytical techniques specific to the ayre’s texts, music, and their synthesis as song.  These analyses will be placed within the social and political contexts of the period to demonstrate the ways in which the ayre reflected its cultural milieu and articulated social trends.  Texts for the course will include treatises on poetic, music-compositional, and performance practices from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and secondary source readings in literary theory and musicology.  The analyses of musical, literary, cultural, and performance practices will be applied in weekly practicums in class to create informed performances of the English Ayre repertoire culminating in a concert performed by the class.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 111 Music Theory I  and MUS 112 Music Theory II  .
  

  • MUS 335 - Techniques of the Avant Garde

    1 course unit
    A study of the compositional techniques and styles of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  Exploration of recent pitch languages and music in which aspects other than pitch become central features.  Influence of technology, rock styles, and other issues will be discussed.  Score study, analysis, and written exercises leading to compositional projects in a variety of styles.  Reading and listening assignments; semester project.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 211 Music Theory III .
  

  • MUS 340, 341, 440, 441 - Composition Workshops

    0.5 course unit
    This course alternates between group meetings and individual lessons.  Group meetings will provide an introduction to orchestration and instrumentation, as well as score study.  Students will present sketches and have these sketches sight-read by the group.  On alternating weeks students will have individual lessons.  A Student Composers concert will conclude each semester.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 211 Music Theory III  or permission of the instructor.
  

  • MUS 350 - Orchestration

    0.5 course unit
    A systematic study of the capabilities of the instruments of the orchestra in musical composition.  A thorough understanding of these capabilities will be mastered through a study of selected works for solo instruments, chamber works, and orchestral literature.  Readings and listening assignments; analysis and written exercises; semester project.
    Prerequisite(s): MUS 211 Music Theory III .
  

  • MUS 960 - Music Internship

    Each internship is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor and an on-site supervisor, and will include an academic project to be defined by and submitted to the faculty sponsor for evaluation.  Will be graded pass/fail.
  

  • MUS 970 - Music Independent Study/Research

    Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.

Applied Music

Study in voice, piano, organ, and the various string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.  Departmental permission is required for enrollment.  Depending on the instructor, students take either thirteen 45-minute lessons or ten 60-minute lessons per semester.  A minimum of five hours individual practice time per week is expected from each student.  Attendance at recitals, concerts, and/or studio classes may be required.  An additional fee is charged for this instruction which is not refundable after the drop deadline.  Applied Music may not be taken on a pass/fail basis and may only be taken as an audit when it constitutes an overload and when it does not constitute the initial semester of a student’s applied music study; permission from both the instructor and department chair is required in this exceptional case.  Two semesters of Applied Music may be used to complete the general academic requirement in the Arts (AR).
  

  • MUS 900 - Class Applied Music

    0.5 course unit
    Class study in voice, piano, conducting, or diction, as available.  An extra fee is charged.
  

  • MUS 901 - Individual Applied Music - First Area

    0.5 course unit
    Individual lessons.  An extra fee is charged.
  

  • MUS 911 - Individual Applied Music - Additional Area

    0.5 course unit
    Individual lessons in another area.  An extra fee is charged.
  

  • MUS 920 - Techniques Course

    0.25 course unit
    Technique development for students involved in the Moravian Music Education Certification Program.
    Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
  

  • MUS 931 - Applied Music - Senior Recital I

    0.5 course unit
    Preparation for a senior recital.  An extra fee is charged.
  

  • MUS 932 - Applied Music - Senior Recital II

    0.5 course unit
    Preparation for a senior recital.  An extra fee is charged.

Performing Ensembles

Ensembles are offered only as zero course unit experiences graded on a satisfactory (S) or unsatisfactory (U) basis.
  

  • MUS 935 - College Choir

    0 course unit
    College Choir is a large mixed chorus, open to all students by audition or permission of the instructor.  Previous choral experience and music literacy skills are helpful but not required.  Students are introduced to a wide variety of sacred and secular music in various styles and languages.  In addition to learning pieces for performance, students also investigate their repertoire in terms of historical context, social significance, religious and philosophical tradition, stylistic interpretation, textual meaning, poetic construction, and music compositional techniques.  Singers hone their musicianship skills (hearing, sight-reading, intonation, ensemble awareness), increase their musical vocabulary, expand their stylistic horizons, improve their abilities in diction and text interpretation, and develop a confident and professional stage presence.  The College Choir rehearses twice weekly, performs several times each semester, and constitutes the musical core of the annual Candlelight Carols services in December.
  

  • MUS 936 - Chamber Choir

    0 course unit
    Chamber Choir is a small, select choral ensemble open to all students by audition or permission of the instructor.  Advanced musical skills are required.  Students are introduced to a wide variety of sacred and secular music in various styles and languages.  In addition to learning pieces for performance, students also investigate their repertoire in terms of historical context, social significance, religious and philosophical tradition, stylistic interpretation, textual meaning, poetic construction, and music compositional techniques.  Singers hone their musicianship skills (hearing, sight-reading, intonation, ensemble awareness), increase their musical vocabulary, expand their stylistic horizons, improve their abilities in diction and text interpretation, and develop a confident and professional stage presence.  The Chamber Choir rehearses twice weekly and performs several times each semester, including the annual Candlelight Carols services in December.
  

  • MUS 937 - Women’s Ensemble

    0 course unit
    A female-only vocal ensemble open to students by audition or permission of the instructor.  Previous choral experience is recommended but not required.  The Ensemble meets once a week.  Because there are two to four student-led sectionals each semester, students are expected to spend additional time learning music independently.  Women’s Ensemble performs concerts of various styles each semester on campus and, occasionally, off-campus.
  

  • MUS 938 - Opera Workshop

    0 course unit
    The Opera Workshop is designed to give advanced vocalists an opportunity to explore and perform operatic solo and ensemble pieces.  Members should be concurrently enrolled for Individual Applied Music or College Choir.
    Open to advanced students by instructor permission.
  

  • MUS 939 - Collegium Musicum

    0 course unit
    The Collegium musicum is a select group of vocalists and instrumentalists.  The ensemble is dedicated to the performance of late Renaissance and early Baroque music.  Vocalists develop their skills singing one voice per part and instrumentalists perform on period instruments.  The Collegium musicum performs one concert per semester.
  

  • MUS 940 - Chamber Orchestra

    0 course unit
    The Chamber Orchestra consists of 20-30 string players plus winds, brass, and percussion, and performs works from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.  The ensemble performs one concert each semester.
  

  • MUS 941 - Musica da Camera

    0 course unit
    This ensemble performs chamber music for winds and strings from the Baroque to the twentieth century.  Rehearsals are collaborative, and students take leadership roles.  One concert each semester and special events by request.
  

  • MUS 942 - Wind Ensemble

    0 course unit
    The Wind Ensemble provides performance opportunities in traditional and contemporary concert music for interested and qualified wind and percussion players.
    Open to all students with permission of the director. Rehearsals are held twice weekly. Participation in all performances required.
  

  • MUS 943 - Jazz Big Band

    0 course unit
    The Jazz Ensemble is a select group of 20-25 members that performs a wide variety of jazz styles.  There is one rehearsal a week and several performances take place during the year.
  

  • MUS 944 - Jazz Improvisation Ensemble

    0 course unit
    This group is devoted to the study and performance of improvised music.  Students participating in the ensemble explore traditional, progressive, and experimental forms of jazz in order to develop a wide range of approaches to improvisation.  The ensemble performs one concert each semester.
  

  • MUS 950 - Small Ensembles

    0 course unit
    Various types of small groups including flute ensemble, percussion ensemble, chamber music, etc.

Neuroscience
  

  • NSC 115 - Drugs & Drug Abuse

    1 course unit
    In this course we will engage in a cross-disciplinary study of pharmacology by appealing to biological, sociological, historical, political, and anthropological points of reference.  Our first discussions will center largely on the putative mechanisms by which drugs act in the central nervous system.  We will also consider how power may define the representation of drugs in society and the resulting consequences for drug regulation.  Additionally, we will discuss the relationship of colonialism to drug history, the social forces governing the perceived “moral” status of drug use, and the emerging ethical issues surrounding drug discovery.
    Prerequisite(s): Students who have taken BIO 150 , BIO 151 , or BIO 152  need permission of the instructor to enroll.
    Meets general academic requirement SC.
  

  • NSC 201 - Mind & Brain

    1 course unit
    The major trajectory of this course is to evaluate the project of neuroscience, and in so doing, assess the possibility that the mind is manifested in and caused by the brain.  We will consider neural arguments about various states of mind, including dreaming, language, selfhood, agency, attention, and intention from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.  Class discussions will center on working definitions of consciousness, experimental approaches to consciousness and self-knowledge, and dysregulations of mind.  A laboratory will explore systems of consciousness from a physiological and phenomenological perspective. Three class hours and one and one-half laboratory hours per week.
    Meets general academic requirement SC.
  

  • NSC 301, 302 - States of Consciousness

    1 course unit
    Critically examines the recent attempts by neuroscience to resolve the neural correlates of various states of consciousness.  Our class conversations will broadly center on the philosophical and physiological traditions that guide this work.  We will closely study the putative neural underpinnings of several states of consciousness, including sleep/dreaming, pain, meditation, ecstasy, and coma; in parallel, we will discuss how the resolution of neural function shapes and is shaped by social structures and cultural meanings.
    Prerequisite(s): NSC 201 Mind & Brain .
    Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 302.
  

  • NSC 304 - Receptors & Channels

    1 course unit
    A critical discussion of the structural and physiological principles of neurotransmitter receptor and ion channel signaling.  Course lectures will introduce the foundational theories and methods of molecular pharmacology, biophysics, and structural biology.  Topics discussed will include structural determinations of membrane proteins; receptor-ligand interactions; allosteric signaling of receptors; channel kinetics; and protein-protein signaling associations.  Relevant primary literature will be introduced through class discussions and independent critical analyses.
    Prerequisite(s): NSC 311 Neurons & Networks  or BIO 220 Biochemistry  or permission of instructor.
    Meets general academic requirement W.
  

  • NSC 306 - Neuroprosthetics

    1 course unit
    This course will explore the state-of-the-art in assistive devices that connect directly to the nervous system, including cochlar implants, neuroprosthetic limbs, and other technologies.  We will consider pragmatic questions of what signals to record, how to mathematically decode those signals, and how to maximize the useful lifetime of implanted devices.  We will also consider the social context in which these technologies have been introduced - and sometimes rejected - and will imagine the ethical landscape for future developments.
    Prerequisite(s): BIO 152 - Principles of Biology III: Molecules & Cells  
  

  • NSC 310 - Brain & Behavior

    1 course unit
    An examination of the biological basis of behavior in humans and other animals.  Topics discussed will include neuroanatomy; sensory and motor systems; psychopharmacology and drug abuse; motivated behaviors; learning and memory; and neurological and psychological disorders.  Research methods of behavioral neuroscience will be introduced through class discussions, relevant primary literature, and laboratory investigations. Three class hours and three laboratory hours per week.
    Prerequisite(s): PSY 101 Introductory Psychology .
  

  • NSC 311 - Neurons & Networks

    1 course unit
    An exploration of the molecular and cellular foundations of nervous system function.  Topics discussed will include the ionic and electrical properties of neurons; the biochemistry of synaptic signaling; structure and function of ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors; neuronal and synaptic plasticity; and the functional regulation of basic neuronal circuits.  Research methods of cellular and molecular neuroscience will be introduced through class discussions, relevant primary literature, and laboratory investigations. Three class hours and three laboratory hours per week.
    Prerequisite(s): BIO 152 Principles of Biology III: Molecules & Cells .
  

  • NSC 401 - CUE: Advanced Seminar in Neuroscience

    1 course unit
    This course serves as a graduate-style seminar for the senior neuroscience major and will stress reading and discussion of primary texts, independent research writing, and critical analysis of timely issues within the field.  Topics discussed may include synaptic mechanisms in memory and learning; analysis of simple neuronal circuits; cortical architecture; neuroendocrinology; the neural basis of sleep and dreaming; pain mechanisms and integration; neurogenetics; neural and psychological disorders; and/or the relationship of neuronal function to behavior and consciousness. Three class hours per week.
    Prerequisite(s): NSC 201 Mind & Brain , NSC 310 Brain & Behavior , and NSC 311 Neurons & Networks .
    Meets general academic requirement W.
  

  • NSC 970 - Neuroscience Independent Study/Research

    Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.  

Personal and Professional Development
  

  • PPD 050 - Foundations for Student Success

    0 course unit
    This course is designed to develop an understanding of one’s holistic well-being. It will focus on personal development, career development, and understanding one’s community responsibilities as well as supports and resources on campus.
    Satisfies general academic requirement PD.
  

  • PPD 060 - Developing Your Professional Identity and Network

    0 course unit
    How do passion and interests translate to personal development and career pathways? How is your professional identity shaped by your roles and responsibilities in the college community? What is the value of a mentor network in helping you develop and shape your professional identity? How can you showcase and integrate academic and co-curricular accomplishments to help you achieve your career objectives? During this course students will explore these questions through assignments, workshop activities, and mentor network opportunities.
    Satisfies general academic requirement PD.

Philosophy Introductory Courses
  

  • PHL 104 - Philosophy East & West

    1 course unit
    In this course, we shall explore some of the foundational philosophies of China and of the West.  We shall compare world views, focusing on concepts of ‘humanity,’ ‘nature,’ ‘self,’ ‘reality,’ and ‘knowledge’-to explore what similarities, and perhaps more importantly, what differences there are between the ways people have seen themselves in relation to their world in different cultural traditions.
    Meets general academic requirement HU and DE.
  

  • PHL 105 - Conduct & Character

    1 course unit
    An introduction to philosophical ethics.  Students explore standards of ethical conduct, principles of fairness, moral virtue, and human well-being. Questions examined include: how should we understand and define the notion of right action? What makes a distribution fair or just? What constitutes human well-being? What are the core elements of virtues like compassion, gratitude, empathy, and altruism? How do such virtues support and enhance human flourishing? 
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 106 - Individual & Society

    1 course unit
    An introduction to the field of philosophy through an exploration of selected problems in socio-political theory with special attention to those that confront us in contemporary social life.  These might include the grounds for political authority, the nature of individuals and social groups, our knowledge of the social good, and the comparative roles of reason, power, and wealth in human relations.  Specific topics may vary.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 108 - Being & Knowing

    1 course unit
    An inquiry into the nature of reality and knowledge.  What sort of thing is the universe?  Is it composed solely of matter, or does it contain immaterial things like spirits?  How can we tell?  Is sense experience the only source of knowledge, or are there other ways of knowing?  Why are we here?  Were we created by God as part of a divine plan, or did we come into being as the result of purely natural processes?  Is there a God?  If so, what sort of being is he (she) (it)?  What kind of creatures are we?  Do we have a soul that will survive the death of our bodies, or will we cease to exist when our bodies die?  Do we have free will?  Are we masters of our destiny, or are our actions caused by forces beyond our control?  We will trace the progression of philosophical thinking on these issues from their earliest formulations to the present day.  Readings will include selections from both classic and contemporary philosophers.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.

Logic
  

  • PHL 110 - Principles of Reasoning & Argument

    1 course unit
    A study of the principles and methods of correct reasoning.  The course is designed to promote the development of skills in recognizing, analyzing, and evaluating arguments.  Both deductive and non-deductive inferences will be considered; identification of common fallacies in reasoning will be emphasized.
    Meets general academic requirement RG.
  

  • PHL 211 - Formal Logic

    1 course unit
    The formal analysis and assessment of deductive arguments using modern symbolic logic, including propositional and predicate logic.
    Meets general academic requirement RG.

History of Philosophy
  

  • PHL 221 - Ancient Philosophy

    1 course unit
    The beginnings of western philosophy.  A study of the enduring philosophical issues in the works of Plato and Aristotle with attention to their origins in pre-Socratic writings.  Consideration will also be given to the development of Hellenistic thought and to the philosophical contributions of Augustine and Aquinas.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 223 - Modern Philosophy

    1 course unit
    European philosophical thought during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  A study of some of the most important attempts to formulate a systematic world-view consistent with modern science and its implications for an understanding of persons, knowledge, and society.  Included are the continental rationalists Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz; the British empiricists Locke, Berkeley, Hume; and the critical idealism of Kant.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 226 - American Philosophy

    1 course unit
    A survey of American philosophical thought from the Colonial era through the twentieth century with special emphasis on the moral foundations of our political system, the history and development of the women’s and civil rights movements, the transcendental themes of individualism and optimism, and the meaning and value of religious and aesthetic experience.  Readings drawn from the works of Jefferson, Franklin, Thoreau, Emerson, DuBois, Stanton, King, James, and Dewey among others.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 325, 326 - Nineteenth Century Philosophy

    1 course unit
    European philosophical thought during the nineteenth century. A study of some significant issues and projects that emerged in the wake of Kant’s ‘critical’ philosophy and in a society increasingly shaped by scientific and industrial development. Readings will include works by Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.
    Prerequisite(s): Any previous course in philosophy.
    Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 326.

Contemporary Areas and Movements
  

  • PHL 229 - Phenomenology

    1 course unit
    In the twentieth century phenomenology emerged as a new and powerful philosophical program.  At its core lay the impulse to reveal the reality that gets obscured by one-dimensional activity and “everyday” thinking.  The thinkers who carry out this project reveal both similarities in method and provocative variation in results.  For example, some phenomenologists ground reality in the first-person experience of time, whereas others privilege the spatial experience of persons in being with others.  We will examine historical and contemporary variations of phenomenology and read figures such as Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Alia Al-Saji, Lewis Gordon, and Elizabeth Grosz.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 233, 234 - Philosophy of Religion

    1 course unit
    An examination of the nature of religion, the meaning of religious claims, and the justification of religious beliefs.  The views of both religious adherents and critics will be studied.  Primary focus will be on the twentieth century writings in the attempt to explore the possibilities of intellectually responsible religious commitment in the contemporary world.
    Meets general academic requirement HU and is a cluster course when offered as 233.
  

  • PHL 236 - Philosophy & the Arts

    1 course unit
    Art works and aesthetic objects are frequently held up as some of the most civilized and civilizing components of any society or community. Foundations preserve their contribution to identity and heritage, museums prolong their status in cultural memory, and institutions receive and distribute funding to ensure their continued role in education and social values. Yet art and aesthetics can also serve as powerful vehicles of critique and disobedience–sometimes attacking these very foundations, museums, and institutions, in addition to government and other individuals and bodies of power–in any given community or polity. In this course we will explore this double nature of art as both civil and disobedient. Readings will include authors and aesthetic genres from groups and geographic locations historically underrepresented in philosophy. Topics include race representation, gender identity, and class difference; classicism, modernism, and postmodernism; street art, kitsch, junkyards, jokes, and mass art, among others.
    Meets general academic requirement HU and DE.
  

  • PHL 237 - Philosophy of Science

    1 course unit
    An examination of the goals, methods, and assumptions of modern science.  What distinguishes scientific explanations from non-scientific ones?  How are scientific theories discovered and confirmed?  What criteria of adequacy are used to decide between competing scientific theories?  Are all sciences reducible to physics?  Has physics proven that the world does not exist independently of our consciousness?  Does science give us objective knowledge of the world?  Is science a religion?
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 327, 337 - Philosophy of Language

    1 course unit
    In this course, we shall reflect on the nature of language, communication, and meaning.  We shall use the pragmatist Peirce, and the founder of linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure, as our guides, and will look briefly at the influential ideas of Chomsky.  We then engage in an extended examination of contemporary challenges in linguistics and the philosophy of language, focusing largely on the philosophy of Wittgenstein.  We also incorporate contemporary empirical scientific research on language in our philosophical reflections. 
    Prerequisite(s): Any previous course in philosophy.
    Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 337.
  

  • PHL 328, 338 - Philosophy of Mind

    1 course unit
    This course is a survey of the fundamental issues, controversies, and methods in contemporary philosophy of mind. Topics will include the relation between the mental and the physical, the problem of consciousness, perception, intentionality, mental causation, and the self. The course will also examine various methods for studying the mind, such as phenomenology, conceptual analysis, and natural scientific approaches.
    Prerequisite(s): Any previous course in philosophy or NSC 201 Mind & Brain .
    Meets general academic requirement HU (and W when offered as 338).
  

  • PHL 331, 336 - Epistemology

    1 course unit
    An exploration into the nature, scope, and sources of human knowledge. Methods for evaluating evidence and obtaining reasonable belief are also investigated. Although some attention will be paid to the views of historical figures, the focus of the course will be on contemporary issues.  Topics may include the analysis of knowledge, theories about the nature and structure of justification, a priori knowledge, feminist standpoint theory, social epistemology, peer disagreement, and confirmation theory. 
    Prerequisite(s): Any previous course in philosophy.
    Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 336.
  

  • PHL 332 - The Fabric of Reality

    1 course unit
    An inquiry into the ultimate nature of reality and our relationship to it.  What sorts of things exist?  Does the world consist solely of material objects or does it also contain immaterial objects such as God, souls, or numbers?  What is the relationship between the mind and the body?  Do humans have free will?  Can humans survive the death of their bodies?  Do our best theories reveal the truth about reality or do they merely reveal the ideological biases of the dominant group?  Topics may include realism vs. anti-realism; nature of space and time; persons, minds, and free will; the problem of universals; and the existence of God.
    Prerequisite(s): Any previous course in philosophy.
    Meets general academic requirement W.

Asian Philosophies
  

  • PHL 250 - Philosophies of India

    1 course unit
    A foundational course that explores the central schools of Indian philosophy, including Vedanta, Samkhya, Nyaya, Jaina, and Buddhist thought.  We will examine the arguments of competing metaphysics (theories of reality), epistemologies (theories of knowledge), logic, philosophies of mind, and the ways of life that they recommend.
    Meets general academic requirements HU and DE.
  

  • PHL 251 - Philosophies of China

    1 course unit
    In this class we shall explore the most foundational philosophical systems and concepts of early China. These philosophical theories continue to influence thought and culture throughout East Asia to this day. We will explore the political, ethical, and psychological theories of Confucius, his grandson Zi Sizi, and of his followers Meng Zi and Xun Zi. We will contrast them with the Daoist Philosophies of the Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, which meditate on the relationship between humans and the natural world. We will also explore other philosophical schools, including the Mohists and the Legalists, who believe that humans are selfish and need to be controlled with laws and punishments.
    Meets general academic requirements HU and DE.
  

  • PHL 351 - Daoist Philosophies

    1 course unit
    Daoist philosophy emphasizes the importance of simplicity, spontaneity, and naturalness.  It promotes a way of life in which humans learn from and live in tune with the natural world.  It has influenced the development of East Asian art, literature, Chinese medicine, physical discipline, and the martial arts.  We will study and engage critically with the theories of three important Daoist texts:  the Lao Zi, also known as the Daodejing, the Zhuang Zi, and the Lie Zi.
    Meets general academic requirement W.

Ethics and Social Theory
  

  • PHL 227 - Philosophy of Feminism

    1 course unit
    This course examines the historical development and current state of feminist theory as both a critical perspective and an area of systematic inquiry.   We will investigate feminist models of knowledge construction, political theory, gender theory, and ethics as they intersect with each other and drive further the development of feminist theory.  We will focus on postcolonial, global, and transnational feminisms.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 239 - Political Philosophy

    1 course unit
    An examination of central issues and concepts in political philosophy in the work of historical and contemporary thinkers.  Topics may include the meaning and value of liberty, equality, and justice; competing political perspectives such as anarchism, liberalism, conservatism, fascism, etc.; debates within particular perspectives; the grounds of political legitimacy and of political obligation.
    Not suitable for first year students
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 241 - Biomedical Ethics

    1 course unit
    An examination of the ethical issues raised by such practices as abortion, euthanasia, birth control, life prolonging techniques, human experimentation, recombinant DNA research, and cloning.  How might such practices affect the individual and society?  Are such practices ethical?  Do patients and/or doctors have a right to refuse treatment?  What considerations are relevant in making life or death decisions?  How should scarce medical resources be allocated?
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 242 - Law & Morality

    1 course unit
    An examination of issues at the intersection of law and morality.  Readings drawn from historical and contemporary thinkers as well as from legal texts.  Topics may include the legitimate extent of legal control of individuals; the relation of legal validity and moral value; the role of moral reasons in judicial decision making; the nature of legal justice; legal obligation and forms of disobedience.
    Not suitable for first year students
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
  

  • PHL 244, 245 - Business Ethics

    1 course unit
    A survey of ethical issues that arise in the context of business.  Topics include corporate social responsibility, consumer protection, moral and legal rights in the workplace, the meaning and value of work, supply chain ethics, environmental stewardship, and international business, among others.  Issues are examined from individual, organizational, and social points of view; core concepts of ethical theory and political philosophy will structure and guide inquiry.  Emphasis placed on critical thinking, evidence-based reasoning, and informed decision making.
    Meets general academic requirement HU and when offered as 244 is a cluster course.
  

  • PHL 246 - Environmental Philosophy

    1 course unit
    Examination of several theoretical approaches to the question of human relations with the nonhuman world and to associated questions about valuation, human society, and human morality.  Theoretical approaches include utilitarianism, Kantianism, and right-based moralities, along with contemporary developments such as biocentrism, ecofeminism, and deep ecology.  Attention given to non-European perspectives.  Applied topics include sustainability and our responsibilities to future generations, population ethics and consumerism, animal rights, and moral issues surrounding climate change.
    Meets general academic requirement HU.
 

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