Apr 29, 2026

Butler University Bulletin 2024-2025

Butler University Bulletin 2024-2025 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

The Core Curriculum

Butler University is home to six colleges, all of which believe that the University’s first responsibility is providing students with what has traditionally been called a “liberal education,” that is, a broad and interdisciplinary education. At the heart of Butler’s undergraduate education is the University’s Core Curriculum, a set of academic requirements embodying our definition of what it means to be a liberally educated person. Introduced in 1945, the Core Curriculum is one of Butler’s oldest academic entities. Like all good ideas, the Core has not remained static but has expanded to meet the needs of a changing society. Today’s Core Curriculum, implemented in fall 2010 and constantly evolving, emphasizes the development of key skills that transfer directly into careers after graduation. Employers seek flexible, creative, and critical thinkers who can demonstrate competencies in strong written and oral communication, information fluency, intercultural awareness, and analytical and ethical reasoning skills. Through direct experience working in the Indianapolis community, study-abroad opportunities, and a commitment to social justice and diversity, Butler students engage central issues of our increasingly globalized world. In these ways, the Core Curriculum provides Butler students with transformative learning experiences that prepare graduates to make a meaningful impact on the world.

The Core Curriculum is required for all baccalaureate and associate degrees. All Butler undergraduates, no matter their major field of study, complete the Core Curriculum. Core Curriculum courses are not open to graduate students. Students are expected to consult with their academic advisor prior to registration each semester to plan their experiences in the Core Curriculum. For more information, visit www.butler.edu/academics/core/.

Core Curriculum Structure

All undergraduate students at Butler must fulfill the following five requirements:

A. The First Year Seminar (FYS; taken both semesters of the first year/6 credits)

B. Global and Historical Studies (GHS; 2 courses/6 credits)

C. Courses in Six Areas of Inquiry

1) Texts and Ideas (TI; 3 credits)

2) Analytic Reasoning (AR; 3 credits)

3) Perspectives in the Creative Arts (PCA; 3 credits)

4) Social World (SW; 3 credits)

5) Natural World (NW; 5 credits)

6) Well-Being (WB; 1 or more credits, as a WB course or a regular course with a WB designation)

D. Two Designation courses

1) One course with a Social Justice and Diversity (SJD) designation

2) One course with an Indianapolis Community Requirement (ICR) designation

E. Eight cultural events designated as satisfying the Butler Cultural Requirement (BCR)

Titles and descriptions for all Areas of Inquiry courses can be found at the beginning of each departmental course listing and in the online Course Search utility, identified by the relevant course attribute.

To ensure academic quality and integrity, some Core Curriculum requirements may be satisfied only by taking courses at Butler University. Other Core Curriculum requirements have provisions that allow for completion via transfer credit, AP, IB, or other exemptions. For details, see www.butler.edu/registrar.

Each Core requirement is described in detail below.

Indianapolis Community Requirement (ICR)

The Indianapolis Community Requirement is a civic-learning component of the Core Curriculum that enhances academic learning while helping students become active citizens of their communities and of the world. The ICR immerses students in a wide range of innovative learning experiences that extend Butler classrooms into the Indianapolis community-to the benefit of students, the University, and the community alike. ICR courses can accelerate the process whereby students master the skills of their respective disciplines, enhance their understanding of civic-mindedness and social justice, and provide opportunities to develop intercultural competencies. Where volunteers may donate time to a project, the ICR is based on connecting experience outside of the Butler classroom to academic learning goals within the classroom. Courses meeting the ICR can be found in the online Course Search utility each semester using the course attribute.

Requirement Structure

Students must take one course in any part of the University that involves active engagement with the Indianapolis community.

Learning Outcomes

To have an active learning experience that integrates classroom knowledge with activities in the Indianapolis community
To use an experience in Indianapolis to further the student’s understanding of the nature of community and the relationship between community and the student
To further students’ commitment to service and ongoing involvement as community actors

Social Justice and Diversity Requirement (SJD)

Requirement Structure

Butler University was founded on the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusivity. The Social Justice and Diversity requirement reaffirms these founding principles. Students must take one course in any part of the University that exposes them to critical scholarship on the root causes of marginalization and inequity and how to counter it.

The Social Justice and Diversity Requirement is in effect for all students, including first-year and transfer students, entering Butler University during or after the fall 2020 semester.

Learning Outcomes

To recognize multiple and intersecting dimensions of identity and inequity through the study of critical scholarship on the historical, cultural, political, and/or social experiences of marginalized communities
To identify and explain the causes and impact of privilege, power, and oppression and cultivate tools for overcoming conflict and promoting equality
To recognize and critique local, national, or global conditions that enable, perpetuate and/or challenge social injustice and inequity

Butler Cultural Requirement (BCR)

Butler University has a rich set of cultural activities in the form of artistic performances, seminars, and public lectures that collectively comprise one of our most remarkable educational resources. The aim of the Butler Cultural Requirement is to engage students in these most valuable and exciting learning opportunities, and to encourage students to develop habits of participation in artistic and cultural events that will lead to lifelong engagement with the creative arts and public intellectual life.

All JCA students have arts events attendance requirements regardless of area of study; this includes primary majors and secondary majors, but not students who are pursuing only a JCA minor. Effective spring 2016, studets pursuing a primary or secondary major in JCA are considered to have fulfilled the University BCR requirement by completing the arts events attendance requirements as required by their area of study in JCA.

Requirement Structure

Students must attend a total of eight cultural events on the Butler campus, such as lectures, performances, recitals, or exhibitions. Events eligible for BCR credit carry the BCR symbol. Ideally, attendance will be spread out over students’ time at Butler, but this is not required. Transfer students must complete at least one BCR credit for each semester enrolled at Butler University.

Learning Outcomes

To discover that some of the most valuable and exciting learning opportunities at Butler take place outside of the classroom
To develop habits of participation in artistic and cultural events that will lead to lifelong engagement with the creative arts and public intellectual life

Core Curriculum Courses

First Year Seminar

The First Year Seminar (FYS101 and FYS102) is a topics-based, two-semester sequenced course that serves as an introduction to the vitality of the liberal arts, to Butler University, and to life as a student. FYS101 is taken in the fall semester; FYS102 is taken in the spring semester. Students will develop, practice, and advance their abilities in critical reading and thinking, effective oral communication and academic writing, and information literacy.

Students transferring to Butler in the spring semester of their first year of college should enroll in and complete FYS 102. All transfer students must fulfill the requirement of any missed FYS semester (101 or 102) by another means. For transfer students, we accept any 3-credit 1st-year composition or literature class or first-year seminar course equivalent, or any writing or literature course at any level, unless it was completed as dual credit before matriculating as a first-year student. Transfer students may also fulfill their 6-credit hour FYS requirement with any combination of Butler University Texts and Ideas courses or 200-level or above courses in writing, cultural studies, or literature.

All non-transfer students are expected to complete the First Year Seminar during their first year at Butler.

Course Structure

A two-semester sequence taken in the first year. FYS course titles and descriptions can be found through the online Course Search utility using the FYS course attribute.

Learning Outcomes

To develop the capacity to think and write clearly, critically, and creatively.
To introduce the student to effective habits for academic success.
To reflect on important issues of the self, and in relation to local and global communities.
To recognize and reflect on their own personal perspectives and biases.
To learn and practice civil discourse in a constructive community.
To learn to evaluate the quality, accuracy and appropriateness of evidence.

Global and Historical Studies

Global and Historical Studies (GHS 201 - GHS 212 ) is an array of interdisciplinary courses that allows students to engage in investigation of and reflection about a culturally diverse and increasingly globalized world. Students will learn to employ a conceptual framework that appreciates cultures as dynamic, heterogeneous, and in constant conversation with one another. In doing so, students will draw on a variety of sources and disciplines, including the arts, the humanities, and social and natural sciences, and they will continue to develop the skills of expository writing introduced in the First Year Seminar.

One semester of GHS is automatically waived for international students. If a student studies abroad in a Butler-approved program and successfully completes 9 or more credit hours of coursework while abroad, the student automatically receives a one-semester/3-credit-hour waiver from GHS. However, students are not allowed to receive two waivers for GHS; they must take at least on GHS course at Butler University. Exceptions require the approval of the Faculty Director of Global and Historical Studies.

Course Structure

All students are required to complete two semesters of GHS (for a total of 6 credit hours), ideally but not necessarily during their sophomore year. Students may not take both GHS 203 (“Modernizing and Contemporary Europe”) and GHS 209 (“Revolutionary Europe and Contemporary Colonial Nigeria”) to complete the GHS requirement, but any other combination of courses is allowed. Course titles and descriptions can be found through the online Course Search utility using the GHS course attribute.

Learning Outcomes

To employ a conceptual framework for global and historical studies that appreciates cultures as dynamic, heterogeneous, and constantly in conversation with one another
To draw on a variety of sources and disciplines–including the arts, the humanities, and the social and natural sciences
To recognize both the benefits and challenges of living in a culturally diverse and increasingly globalized world
To continue development of skills of expository writing

Courses

GHS 201 - South Asian Civilizations

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will provide an overview of South Asian civilizations in comparative perspective, and will focus on the subcontinent’s geography and history, its cultures and religions, its arts (i.e. music, dance, literature, and film), its notions of virtue and gender, its economic realities and role in the global marketplace, and its political development. Though covering the entire region, the course will pay particular attention to Pakistan and India, which, because of their religious demographics, provide an interesting contrast and a history of conflict. Nevertheless, the course will also draw attention to the ways in which religious, ethnic, communal, gender, and political lines have been blurred in South Asian history. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 202 - Postcolonial Studies: The Caribbean

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Ever since Toussaint-L’Ouverture led the first successful modern slave rebellion in Haiti in the late eighteenth century, defeating the armies of France, Britain, and Spain, the Caribbean has been a pivotal region in understanding the legacy of colonialism in the Americas. In this course, we will examine, from an interdisciplinary and comparative framework, the long history of interaction between the Caribbean and the West. Beginning with Christopher Columbus’s ‘discovery’ of the New World, Europe’s development of the Atlantic slave trade, and the world-changing Haitian Revolution, we will follow the efforts of formerly colonized people of this region to forge new nations, cultures, and identities in the aftermath of European imperialism. Topics likely to receive particular emphasis this semester include Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism, Rastafarianism and Obeah (Voodoo), Bob Marley and Jamaican popular music, international capitalism and the tourist industry, and the role of Caribbean women in the struggle for postcolonial identity and the development of a diasporic consciousness. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 203 - Modernizing and Contemporary Europe

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Modernizing and Contemporary Europe – This course will study the early modern establishment of nation states, the Enlightenment advocacy of human rights and constitutional government and the revolutionary movements to realize those ideas, the World Wars and the Cold War, and the establishment and expansion of the European Union. Students who have taken one semester of GHS 209 ”Change and Tradition in Revolutionary Europe Colonial Nigeria” may not satisfy the second semester of Global and Historical Studies with GHS 203 “Modernizing and Contemporary Europe” due to an overlap in the material. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 204 - Contact Zones: Latin America beyond Futbol, Narcos and Food

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Latin America is more than food and futbol. Instead,”Latin America” is the complex product of colonial encounters, different forms of struggle, and multiple negotiations. This course introduces students to the study of Latin America through the lens of contact zones, i.e. places where different peoples and cultures “meet, clash, grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power.” Exploring how privilege, race ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class, as cultural constructions, have emerged through colonial relations of power, the course aims to dismantle cultural stereo types of the region by emphasizing the diversity and complexity of its peoples. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 205 - East Asian Interactions

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores the interactions among China, Korea, and Japan. It will examine how each of the three states has contributed to the evolution of a common tradition, how each of them has benefited from the interactions, and how some of the interactions have caused destruction in the regions. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 206 - Colonialism & Post-Colonialism in Africa

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course intends to explore the more complex realities of African responses to the imposition of European military, cultural and economic domination in the colonial era and the effects of such responses continuing into the post-colonial period up to the present. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 207 - Resistance & Rights: Global Women

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In this course, we will examine the means by which women around the globe work individually and collectively to gain basic human rights. Issues of culture, religion, tradition, beauty, tourism, health, war, immigration, and the media will be explored as we consider the possibilities for activism and resistance to oppression. .Our “lens” for this course will be transnational, intersectional feminism, which is likely quite different from the Western liberal feminism many of you may be familiar with. We will apply that lens primarily to understanding the connections between patriarchal, capitalist, and imperialist systems, striving to understand how we can support women in gaining basic human rights within these systems while also coming to understand the ongoing and historic inequities and injustices perpetuated by these systems. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 208 - Change & Tradition in China & the Islamic Middle East

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course examines the roots of the oldest continuing civilization today, China, and the origin and emergence of Islam as a major world culture and religion. It addresses the challenges of modernity for these two traditional cultures, particularly as they have responded to a world increasingly influenced by the West. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 209 - Revolutionary Europe and Colonial Nigeria

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores the cultural traditions of Europe and Nigeria and their confrontations with modernity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The old order ends in violence, and a new order emerges, shaped by the forces of democracy, science, capitalism, and imperialism. Those who have taken GHS 203 (“Modernizing and Contemporary Europe”) may not satisfy the second semester of GHS with GHS 209 (“Revolutionary Europe and Colonial Nigeria”) due to overlap in the material. (U) Fall, Spring

GHS 210 - Freedom and Movement

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
What is freedom? What does it mean to be free? This course examines the changing meanings of freedom between the Age of Exploration and the present by exploring the transcontinental and transoceanic movements of people, ideas, and capital across Africa, the Americas, and Europe. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

GHS 211 - Modern Middle East North Africa

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This class explores the historical and transnational formation of the modern Middle East and North African region. The modern MENA is home to millions of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. We will learn about their life stories and examine the political, cultural, economic, religious, and ‘poetic’ everyday practices of the region. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

GHS 212 - Asian Americas - Empire, Diaspora, and Identity in the Modern World

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Asians are one of the fastest growing minoritized communities in the Americas and have influenced the history, culture, language, religion, economics and politics of the region over the last two centuries. yet, most college students have little to no understanding of the diversity and complexity of the communities and their lived experiences in the Americas. This course invites students to embark on this transpacific journey of discovery through the lenses of history and critical social justice. To understand the lived experiences of various Asian communities in the Americas today, students will be encouraged to interrogate the historical sources of social injustice through a multiplicity of sources and disciplines ranging from the arts, humanities and social sciences. (U) Fall, Spring

Analytic Reasoning

Analytic Reasoning courses assist students in developing capacities for quantitative and analytical reasoning and their central place in natural and social sciences in particular and personal and public life in general.

All students must fulfill the Analytic Reasoning requirement. However, in addition to taking courses designated as Analytic Reasoning courses, students may fulfill the requirement by taking at least 5 credit hours of mathematics or computer science courses above algebra and pre-calculus. Similarly, students in professional colleges (COPHS or LSB) with college mathematics requirements fufill the requirement in the process of completing those requirements. For AP/IB equivalencies, see www.butler.edu/registrar.

Course Structure

A menu of 3-credit-hour courses to be taken from the first year onward.

Learning Outcomes

To demonstrate capacities for quantitative and analytic reasoning
To apply these capacities in a variety of practical contexts to the natural and social sciences

Courses

AR 210-MA - Statistically Speaking

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Who needs statistics in the 21st century? Anyone looking critically at numerical information who does not want to be misled by incorrect or inappropriate calculations or anyone dealing with issues in their environment, state/nation, or career would benefit from studying statistics. This course is an introduction to applied statistics in the natural, social, and managerial sciences through the use of current issues and applications. Topics include data analysis, descriptive statistics, linear regression, chi-square tests, analysis of variance, and tests and confidence intervals for means and proportions, and the use of statistical software. Credit will not be awarded for both AR210-MA and MA162. (U) Fall, Spring

AR 211-MA - Codes and Secret Messages

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
How can sensitive information such as credit card numbers or military strategy be exchanged between two people without being intercepted by a third party? Are there ways to detect and correct errors resulting from a mistyped identification number or a scratched CD? Can information be exchanged securely among multiple individuals without anyone revealing his or her own decryption scheme? In this course, students will investigate various strategies for storing and transmitting information accurately, efficiently, and securely. Students will design several types of ciphers for sending secret messages, construct various error-detecting and error-correcting codes, and implement secure public-key cryptosystems for exchanging messages with classmates. As these issues are explored, students will discover the need for mathematical notions such as modular arithmetic, permutations and combinations, probability and statistics, vectors and matrices, and formal logic. Students will also become aware of the central role played by cryptology and coding throughout history and modern society. (U) Occasionally

AR 212-MA - Win, Lose, or Draw

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Why do we play games? Whatever the reason, games are a big piece of life. The world has played games for a long, long time – every time period, every culture. We will study games and gambling in our culture with an emphasis on casino games. To better understand games, students will study logic, sets, Venn diagrams, combinatorics, probability, and expectation. (U) Fall, Spring

AR 213-MA - Infinity and Beyond

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Is infinity a knowable concept? The ability to wrestle with the infinite remains one of the pinnacles of human thought. Many of the big ideas of ancient and modern mathematics are related to this notion. With infinity as a unifying theme, this course aims to engage students in exploratory investigations and mathematical ways of thinking in topics like estimation, rigorous proof of universal statements, iterative limits, resolution of paradoxes, inherent limitations of computer calculations, and the extension of ideas to new settings. Practical outcomes include improved numeracy and sense of scale, appreciation for the application of abstract mathematics, awareness of limits in computational models, insights in philosophy and aesthetics, novel techniques of thought, and a general emphasis on careful reasoning. (U) Occasionally

AR 214-MA - Beauty (not the Beast) in Mathematics

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course is designed to convey the power and beauty of mathematics through mathematical principles seen in art and architecture. Students will study applications and the value of mathematics in using both inductive/deductive reasoning to better understand their personal lives and the world and study networks and topology from a non-theoretical viewpoint. (U) Occasionally

AR 220-CS - Robot Programming

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This introductory programming course features personal robots that can move, draw, and take digital pictures. Robot behaviors are programmed and controlled remotely using a high-level language such as Python from a desktop or laptop computer. Topics include conditional execution, repetition, defining functions, and using arrays. No prior programming experience required. (U) Fall, Spring

AR 231-PL - Principles of Reasoning

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
A survey of principles of reasoning used in a variety of disciplines, including philosophy, mathematics, statistics, the natural and social sciences, and law. Attention also will be paid to how to recognize and avoid Fallacies. (U) Fall, Spring

AR 240 - Bracket Busting

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The sports industry value in North America is expected to grow from around $60 billion in 2014 to around $75 billion in 2019. Sports media rights alone are projected to be around $20 billion by 2019 (Forbes, October 2015). There also has been a growth of sports management programs, including leadership development education programs. Sports is a complex business. Contributing to the business success is team/organization success in terms of winning. The rise of sports analytics over the past 15 - 20 years has arguably provided a competitive edge to teams, general managers, and coaches who have embraced the methods. For sports business leaders and coaches, analytics (or using data to drive decision) informs decision making in areas including team development, game strategy, marketing, ticket pricing, fan development, and concessions. Fans are buyers of the goods from the sports industry and analytics can offer fans a better understanding of the game. This course aims to provide students with the introductory knowledge and skills to apply analytics to common sports-related decisions regardless of if the student’s goal is to be a better fan or aspire to be a sports business leader. (U) Spring

Natural World

Course Structure

A menu of 5-credit-hour lecture/lab courses to be taken from the first year onward. Natural World courses are not required of science majors. Students may also fulfill the requirement by taking at least 8 credit hours of laboratory science. For AP/IB equivalencies, see www.butler.edu/registrar.

Learning Outcomes

To gain awareness of some significant scientific theories and achievements, and recognize how they are related both to other areas of science and to our understanding of broader societal issues
To develop an understanding of the methods of natural science and a capacity to reason scientifically
To experience firsthand the scientific process method through discovery-based learning

Courses

NW 200-BI - Biology and Society

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
This course will examine current societal issues with biological connections, the role scientists and others play toward helping us understand these issues, and the underlying biological concepts for each topic. Course includes lecture and laboratory components. A course for non-science majors only. (U) Annually, term varies

NW 201-BI - Environmental Biology

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Application of scientific principles to understanding and managing the environment. Emphasizes the human relationship with the environment and possible solutions to environmental problems. Lecture and laboratory. A course for non-science majors. (U) Occasionally

NW 202-BI - The World of Plants

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Introduction to plant biology. How the anatomy and physiology of diverse plants help them to survive, reproduce, and benefit humans and ecosystems. Lecture and laboratory. A course for non-science majors. (U) Annually, term varies

NW 203-BI - Code of Life–The Past, Present, and Future of Genetics

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
An overview of major concepts and research techniques in genetics, from historical foundations to modern genomic approaches. Special attention will be given to connections between genetics and human society, as well as how scientific reasoning contributes to addressing interdisciplinary issues. Lecture and laboratory. A course for non-science majors. (U) Annually, term varies

NW 204-BI - Survey of Biology

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
A survey of the major concepts in the biological sciences. Lecture and laboratory. A course for non-science majors. (U) Occasionally

NW 205-BI - Urban Ecology: Exploring and Enhancing the Urban Environment of Indianapolis

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
The majority of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, but only recently have environmental scientists begun to explore the ecology in and of cities. This course uses the city of Indianapolis as a case study to understand the effect that cities have on the environment, the processes that take place in the urban ecosystem, and the opportunities cities hold for ecological restoration. Lecture and laboratory. A course for non-science majors. (U) Annually, term varies

NW 206-BI - Life, Death, and Immortality: How the HeLa Monster Did and Didn’t Change the World

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
A patient on a 1951 “colored” ward unknowingly contributed to science, changing medicine forever. Exploring the underlying biology/genetics through lecture and laboratories, we’ll also review the ethical, socioeconomic, racial, and gender issues related to these HeLa cells. (U) Occasionally

NW 207-BI - Ecology and the Natural Environment

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
This course will explore the foundational ecological principles that govern the interactions between species and the abiotic and biotic world and, in turn, determine patterns of distribution and abundance. Fundamental concepts of ecology at the population, community, and ecosystem levels will be emphasized. (U) Annually, term varies

NW 208-BI - Molds, Mildews and Mushrooms: The Fifth Kingdom

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Molds, Mildews, and Mushrooms is an Inquiry-based course that illustrates the scientific process from a mycocentric perspective by exploring key concepts in biology such as evolution, adaptation, and extinction. We also will explore common processes shared by fungi and other eukaryotes, how fungi interact with other organisms and their environment, and how fungi impact our daily lives. (U)

NW 210-CH - Chemistry and Society

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Study of chemistry and its applications to and impact on society. Four hours of lecture/discussion and one two-hour laboratory per week. Credit not applicable toward a major in chemistry. (U) Fall, Spring

NW 211-CH - Water Quality

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Study of chemistry and its applications to water systems in and around Indianapolis. Four hours of lecture/discussion and one two-hour laboratory per week. Credit not applicable toward a major in chemistry. (U) Occasionally

NW 213-BI - Forensic Biology

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
A survey of forensic biology, including concepts, methods, and instrumentation employed in crime laboratories throughout the justice system, regularly illustrated through the lens of a historical case or pivotal player that shaped the course of the field. Topics include the development of traditional techniques for the detection and identification of human biological material, the advent and refinement of DNA analysis for human ID, and a discussion of the societal impact of modern forensic DNA analysis, as well as the many legal, ethical, and media issues surrounding forensics. (U) Summer

NW 220-PS - Behavioral Science

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Students will learn the core theories in psychology and the methods used to derive and test the adequacy of those theories. Included in this are concepts of behavioral measurement and statistics, operational definitions used to assess theoretical concepts/mechanisms, hypothesis testing, and scientific report writing according to APA guidelines. Each content area will be covered through current and past theories and their methods of testing theoretical adequacy. (U) Occasionally

NW 221-PS - Human Behavioral Measurement

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
An introduction to the philosophy and nature of science and scientific reasoning as applied to the problem of measuring human cognition and behavior. Topics include the development of surveys, tests, time and event sampling, reaction time measures, signal detection methods, as well as physiological measures of human behavior. (U) Occasionally

NW 260-COE - Earth Systems Science

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
In this course, we will use an earth systems perspective to view environmental phenomena, such as global climate change, and the impact of humans on the environment. By the end of the class, students will gain an awareness of some significant scientific theories and achievements, and to recognize how they are related both to other areas of science and to our understanding of broader societal issues. In addition, students will develop an understanding of the methods of natural science and a capacity to reason scientifically, as well as experience first-hand the scientific process method through discovery-based learning. (U) Fall, Spring

NW 261-BI - Food: Pasture, Table, Body, and Mind

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
This course about food will encourage society to consider how food connects to both society and to science and how society and science connect to one another. By using a framework of pasture, table, body, and mind, we will explore the ecological relationship between a healthy environment and growing healthy food, the factors that influence our food choices, the constituents of food and how they contribute to our physical well-being, and the ways in which society and culture influence our eating habits. A course for non-science majors. (U) Occasionally

NW 262-PH - The Physical World

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
A one-semester study of selected topics in physics, astronomy, chemistry, and other related fields, and the mathematical analysis of physical problems. Some mathematical tools will be introduced as needed. Four lecture periods and two hours of laboratory per week. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

NW 263-AS - The Astronomical Universe

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
A one-semester survey of astronomy including ancient Greek astronomy, the motions of the night sky, the solar system, other solar systems, the lives of stars including the Sun, and the origin and fate of the universe. This will be a four-lecture-hour/two-hour lab course. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

NW 264 - Explorations into Astrophysics

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
Introduction to physics through astronomical inspirations. By hands-on lab experimentation, students study periodic motion, sound waves, and optical phenomena. The notions are applied to the ideas of modern astrophysics including celestial motion, properties and evolution of stars, detection of exoplanets, dark matter and energy. Four lecture periods and two hours of laboratory per week. (U) Annually, term varies

NW 265-ENV - Weather, Climate, and Society

Min Units: 5
Max Units: 5
This course explores our atmosphere, including the science behind our daily weather, weather forecasting, climate and climate change, and global atmospheric circulation. Students will gain a fundamental knowledge of meteorology and climatology and their interactions with human activities on earth. As a lab science course within the Natural World core distribution block, students of all academic interests and majors will apply atmospheric processes to their everyday lives through the analysis of real-world events and data. (U) Occasionally

Perspectives in the Creative Arts

Courses in Perspectives in the Creative Arts develop cognitive and affective appreciation for the process and products of artistic creation. Students participate actively in the creation of an artistic product and reflect on the nature and sources of aesthetic value. Through such production and reflection, we expect students to develop habits of participation in artistic and cultural events that will lead to lifelong engagement in the creative arts.

Students may fulfill the requirement either by taking a designated Perspectives in the Creative Arts course or by taking at least 9 credit hours in art, dance, theater, music, digital media production, recording industry studies, or creative writing.

Course Structure

A menu of 3-credit-hour courses to be taken from the first year onward.

Learning Outcomes

To develop cognitive and affective appreciation for the process and products of artistic creation
To participate actively in the creation of an artistic product
To reflect on the nature and sources of aesthetic value
To develop habits of participation in artistic and cultural events that will lead to lifelong engagement with the creative arts

Courses

PCA 200-ART - Introduction to Visual Art

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course combines the study of visual art (art history, art criticism, and aesthetics) with studio art experience (the elements of art and the principles of design put into practice). A wide variety of media are considered, including those sometimes termed popular culture: film, television, advertising art, and web design in addition to more traditional forms such as painting and sculpture. Students develop a critical awareness of art and develop a vocabulary with which to describe their own and others’ work. The coursework primarily comprises class discussion, written assignments, and creative projects. Art + Design majors are not eligible for enrollment. (U) Fall, Spring

PCA 202-ART - Introduction to Art History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Through a series of case studies, this course examines the importance of art as a cultural expression across time, and from a global perspective. The course introduces art through formal elements, medium, historical context, and themes. Students will analyze the style, subject, and patronage of works of art, and will explore art’s relationship to religion, ideology, society, economy, gender and racial identities, and the interaction of cultures. Case studies will include painting, sculpture, architecture, design, printmaking, and photography, among others. The course also incorporates mandatory assignments and activities related to a local museum, for example, the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. (U) Fall, Spring

PCA 210-DD - Art, Engineering, and Design

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Engineering and art were not always completely separate disciplines; Leonardo da Vinci seamlessly combined the two. Engineers focus on how it works, and artists focus on the user experience. This course takes students abroad to study both disciplines, to reflect on how historical sites/buildings were created, and to understand the impact they had at the time of their inception and in the current world. (U)

PCA 215-AN - Art Across Borders

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Students in Art Across Borders will gain an understanding of the importance of art that intersects with the lives of people crossing over geopolitical border, and sociocultural boundaries that mark areas of distinctions and exclusions in the global north. Students will learn to reflect on specific examples to unpack the interactions of art (creative, imaginative, therapeutic) and politics (racial, gendered, religious, diasporic). (U) Spring

PCA 218-EN - Visual Literature

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The 20th-century collision of postmodern and digital cultures has given rise to visual narratives in increasingly diverse forms. This course will take inventory of classic story structures, then survey the cultural landscape for dynamic examples of visual literatures. Our investigations are likely to include video games, infographics, sequential art, maps, diagrams, iPhone apps, and more. (U) Summer

PCA 219-AA - Arts in Society

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The purpose of this class is to investigate the various genres of the visual and performing arts in relation to contemporary society. Through reading, discussion, writing, and creative learning activities, students will learn to appreciate, explore, and accept a wide framework of artistic endeavors. (U) Occasionally

PCA 220-DA - American Dance in the Black Tradition: Searching for Cultural Diffusion in Movement

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will examine the relationship between dance and artistic development in 20th-century America, focusing on the artistic expression of the African-American culture. Through examination of the interplay between dominant and non-dominant cultures, students can create and develop a model of compassion and appreciation where diverse artistic talents are recognized and valued for their unique contributions. (U) Occasionally

PCA 221-DA - Latin Dances, African Roots

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
An introduction to and overview of the national dances of Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, and Peru. We will study the influence of indigenous cultures, colonization, and the Atlantic slave trade on the development of dances such as samba, rumba, tango, capoeira, and popular dance and culture, as well as examining current practice in light of the political and social changes that have occurred in these countries since 1900. We will approach the course subject using films, texts, and, of course, dancing. We will gain first-hand knowledge of, and appreciation for, dance in these cultures and how it relates to an appreciation of dance in our culture. All students are welcome. (U) Occasionally

PCA 225-TH - Introduction to Theatrical Costuming

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores the principles and practices by which costumes are created for theatrical performance. Often dubbed “page to stage,” coursework includes text analysis, research, design aesthetics, and production basics. Students will participate in the page to stage costume design process, and attend a university theatre meeting and performance for purposes of evaluation. (U) Occasionally

PCA 232-EN - Seeing the World and the Self

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
When you look out the window do you see a tree or the rhythmic sway of dark line and bright color? Do you see a field of grass or waves of innumerable greens? This course will encourage you to see the world through the eyes of an artist by focusing on the natural world. To achieve this we will examine a variety of formats including poetry, the personal essay, painting, and photography in relation to key aesthetic concepts such as the sublime, the beautiful, and the picturesque. We will juxtapose contemporary writers and artists with those from earlier periods to demonstrate how the way we see the world is culturally determined. We will complement our readings with trips to nearby museums (IMA), galleries, and the studios of local artists. In addition, we will take advantage of such local natural resources as the grounds of the IMA, the canal walk, and Holcomb Gardens, where you will find the raw material for your own reflection and creative expression. (U) Fall, Spring

PCA 233-EN - Storycraft

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In this course we’ll blend the study of craft – the tools and techniques of storytelling – with creation. You’ll engage with published stories in addition to writing your own, all to learn how stories work, and how you work best as a writer. (U)

PCA 234-EN - Bring the Noise: Spoken Word Between the Lines

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Students will explore the dynamism of the spoken word evidenced in the resurgence of performance-based art and poetry venues. Study the creative techniques involved in bringing written words to life. Examine past and present performers’ stylistic approaches to captivating an audience. Discover how to develop and enhance poetry from the page to the stage. (U) Fall

PCA 235-EN - The Art of Poetry

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
At its best, poetry expresses fundamental truths and mysteries about the human condition. This course will provide students an understanding of and appreciation for the way poets use language to say the unsayable. Students will be taught the art of poetry by reading memorable poems, and by composing their own. (U) Annually, term varies

PCA 237-EN - Lit Hop: Hip Hop and Literature

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Students will listen to the two-way ekphrastic chat between hip hop and literature and respond creatively to this modern mash-up. Pairing classic albums with the poetry and prose they have inspired or expanded upon, we will explore rap’s influence on American culture. Students will write across genres, transcending old-school conventions. (U) Fall

PCA 238-EN - Urban Sketching

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will introduce students to urban sketching–the practice of drawing on location where you live or when you travel–and its global community. From lively street scenes to everyday architecture, urban sketching encourages us to discover the unique people and particular places of our community through the creative act of picture making. Our goal is not to create a polished work of art, but rather to capture the energy, dynamism, and local flavor of our world. (U) Occasionally

PCA 239-AA - Arts & Cultural Management in Italy

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This study abroad program, located in Italy, will address the differences in arts and cultural funding and management between the US and Italy; students will visit several museums including the Uffizi Gallery, Academia Gallery, Palazzo Poggi in Bologna (home of the original Cabinet of Curiosity), and several more. The course includes several creative activities and assignments. It will feature a guest lecturer in art history and/or the role of the Medici in Renaissance Florence (depending on availability each year). (U) Summer

PCA 241-MU - Music in Action

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The arts are a fundamental expression of the human condition, and as such, a key element in developing an understanding of cultures. This course provides both an historical overview of music and its development within Western civilization as well as an exploration of what gives music its meaning and emotional charge. Students will examine and discuss music from a variety of historical periods; attend live performances; participate in written exercises and class activities relating music to the sociocultural environment in which it was created; investigate the lives and ideas of leading composers and artists; and engage in creative projects. (U) Fall, Spring

PCA 242-MU - Music Ensemble

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course provides PCA credit for participation in the Butler University music ensembles. In addition to the requirements for the music ensemble, this course includes written assignments in an online module that focus on developing context for the pieces being studied and formal reflective practice. (U) Fall, Spring

PCA 243-MU - Musicking Futures in Malaysia

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This three-week course takes place in Malaysia and is open to all Butler University students regardless of major. The course will emphasize collaborative music-making through exposure to traditional (indigenous) Malaysian and North American musics. Students and Malaysian students will critically reflect on ways in which culture and music intersect in an increasingly transcultural world, with an awareness of musical colonialism and its effects on minoritized peoples. Through development of creativity, students will co-compose a musical drama, reflecting their sociocultural and personal backgrounds. Through discourse (verbal, written, and musical) students will consider constructive strategies for inclusive and diversity-affirming relationships. (U) Summer

PCA 250-TH - Masks

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces students to a variety of theatrical masking traditions, and explores mask work through participation in the design, creation, and studio exploration of masks for performance. Study will incorporate readings, research, classroom discussion, design and performance analysis, and the creation of three wearable masks. No prior experience in performance or design is required. (U) Occasionally

PCA 251-TH - Theatre Experienced through the Human Body

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The purpose of this course is for the student to undertake the study of the role of the body and movement in theatre performance, and by extension gain a greater understanding of the theatrical art. The student will engage in a variety of activities that could include experiential learning; attending and assessing theatrical performances; and practical studies and exercises, readings, writing, analyzing, and discussing the role of the human body and movement in theatre and all human exchange. A background in theatre is not at all necessary; a willingness to commit to personal exploration and to participate in performance practices in the studio is a must. (U) Occasionally

PCA 252-TH - Fashioning Identity: A History of Dress

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces selected periods from fashion history as inspiration for the design process. Students will examine the role of clothing and appearance in creating individual and cultural identity through readings, observations, and research. Aesthetics of beauty, fashion, anti-fashion, gender, religion, body modification, cultural heritage, and fashionable technology are avenues for exploration in this creative expression of who we are. (U) Occasionally

PCA 253-TH - The Scriptwriter’s Perspective

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course focuses on the fundamentals of scriptwriting, including the elements of effective storytelling and proper formatting. The primary coursework entails writing a full-length script (a play, screenplay, or teleplay), while exploring and refining one’s own unique perspective, voice, artistic approach, and potential contribution regarding the art of scriptwriting. (U) Occasionally

PCA 255-TH - Theatre: The Actor’s Perspective

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Students will learn about the actor’s process through a series of acting exercises culminating in performance. Visiting artists will contextualize the students’ acting work as it relates to other aspects and forms of theatre. Acting experience is not necessary, but a willingness to participate during each class session is! (U) Occasionally

PCA 256-TH - Entertainment Design

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course is designed to introduce the student to the elements of design and principles of composition as they pertain to the entertainment industry including film, television, and theme park design. The student will also examine the creative process through reading, research, observation, and project-based assignments. (U) Occasionally

PCA 257-TH - Theatre Production: Performance

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course, offered every other year, provides the non-theatre major with the experience of rehearsing for and performing in a Butler Theatre mainstage production. Admittance is only via successful completion of an audition for the production in the semester previous to enrollment. (U) Occasionally

PCA 259-TH - Theatre Experienced Through the Human Voice

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The purpose of this course is for the student to gain an understanding of the theatrical art form through examining the role of the human voice in performance. The student will undertake the study of the role of voice in theatre via experientially learning Kristin Linklater’s Freeing the Natural Voice technique, attending and assessing theatrical performances, and through required reading, writing assignments, analysis, and discussion of the role of the human voice in theatre and all human exchange. A background in theatre is not necessary. Please note this course focuses on the speaking (rather than the singing) voice and can be applied to all careers where speaking is important. (U) Occasionally

PCA 260-MFL - Love and Marriage – 17th Century Spanish Drama

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
We will read six plays from the Spanish Golden Age that take place in the capital city of Madrid. We will study these dramas in the context of 17th-century Spain, a society marked by rapid urbanization, increased social mobility, and seismic shifts in cultural norms and personal identities and lifestyles. Theater played a central role in this society, mirroring the confusing and disorienting aspects of urban life, such as mishaps, mistaken identities, love triangles, and miscommunications. Our course will focus on the theme of love and marriage as sites of cultural anxiety at this critical juncture in the history of Spain. Students will write their own version of a Spanish “comedia” and work in groups to perform a scene from one of the plays we read in class. Additionally, they will keep a journal on how the theme of the class, “love and marriage,” is present in contemporary artistic expressions. (U) Occasionally

PCA 261-MK - Aesthetics and Design

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Art is everywhere but few people acknowledge it in the form of everyday practical objects. This course will study the fundamental elements of art and the principles of design and their interaction to create both artwork and products of use. Students should expect hands-on experiences in creating artwork and product prototypes to demonstrate content learning. There is a secondary focus on developing a skill set in reflection, self awareness, empathy, creativity and critiquing. (U) Annually, term varies

PCA 262-CLA - Greek Art and Myth

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In ancient Greece, mythology and myth inspired art helped people process their lived experiences, communicate their ideas and beliefs, and explain their world. This class will explore the intersection of Greek myth and art while considering the many ways these two media have been used to convey meaning over time, particularly through various art forms. Close attention will be given to: the reception of myth and artistic renderings of myth that illuminate contemporary issues of social justice; critiques of traditional & contemporary readings of ancient stories; and the diversity of experiences and perspectives myth can encompass. (U) Fall, Spring

PCA 263-RL - The Bible and Music

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores the intersection of the Bible and music, focusing on musical settings of Biblical texts across a range of time periods and cultures, from synagogue and church chanting, through classical music, to jazz and rock. (U) Fall

PCA 264-SP - Nature, Art, and Craft in Peru

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
(U) Occasionally

PCA 267-HST - Experiencing the City: Indianapolis through Public Art, Architecture, and Performance

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course uses public art, architecture, and performance in Indianapolis to study the politics and aesthetics inherent in “Staging” cities. It aims to enhance understanding of how art informs both the history of how urban environments have been imagined, planned, and built as well as how we experience these spaces today. (U) Annually, term varies

PCA 268 - Urban Studies Lab

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course invites students to study the city as artistic expression to better understand how politics, economics, and social developments have informed the history of city (in this case, Amsterdam). By exploring the historical developments of selected buildings, districts, markets, monuments, museums, neighborhoods, parks, streets, and waterways, we will learn why the city earned the reputation as “most liberal city in the world.” In studying art, architecture, and other visual culture among our sources, we will pay particular attention to settlement and movement as agents in fashioning places and constructing normative as well as “deviant” gendered, classed and raced subjectivities. (U) Summer

PCA 270-CLA - Art Around the Ancient Med

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores the art history of the Ancient Mediterranean world with a focus on the Near East, Africa, Etruria, and Sardinia. The content aims to expand and diversify understanding of the ancient Mediterranean world by centering societies that thrived alongside the contemporary and better -known Greeks and Romans. Lectures will introduce students to art and culture, and discussions will examine, investigate, and compare artistic and cultural trends while also considering the presentation of material from a post-colonialist perspective. Students will also be required to engage with the display of art and artifacts from these cultures in museums around the world. (U)

PCA 272-CLA - Writing with Folklore

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Folklore and oral tradition are the original forms of storytelling and entertainment in every culture, from the preliterate to the contemporary and high-tech. This course invites students to put folklore in dialogue with the written word, and participate in the creation of folkloric storytelling in a new medium. (U) Occasionally
Prerequisite(s): none
Corequisite(s): none

Well-Being

Well-Being courses are designed to help students develop lifelong habits of good health and physical activity as well as an appreciation of the centrality of health and wellness for the pursuit of a good life. Students may fulfill the requirement either with a course designated as a Well-Being course or through 3 credits of activity-based and wellness courses, including specific DA and PE courses. Contact the Core Curriculum office for details or see www.butler.edu/core.

Course Structure

A 1-credit-hour, two-contact-hour, pass/fail course (or any other course bearing the WB designation) selected from a menu of courses devoted to physical and mental well-being taken from the first year onward.

Learning Outcomes

To develop a plan for lifelong habits of good health across multiple dimensions of well-being
To articulate an increased awareness of the centrality of health and wellness for the pursuit of a good life

Courses

WB 101 - Ballroom Dance Sport

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed to give students a basic introduction to the International and American Style of Ballroom, Latin, and Social dancing. The primary focus is to teach and reinforce the life-long health and wellness benefits of partnership dancing including physical activity and fitness, stress reduction, intra and interpersonal relationships, and self-efficacy. No dance experience required. Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Occasionally

WB 103-DA - Beginning Ballet (non-majors)

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Basic ballet technique in the recognized classic form. For students who have had no previous training. Not applicable to the dance major. Open to students who have not completed a WB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 104-DA - Beginning Jazz (non-majors)

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Basic jazz styles and forms for non-majors. Open to students who have not completed a WB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 105-DA - Intermediate/Advanced Jazz (non-majors)

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Jazz styles and forms for non-majors. Open to students who have not completed a WB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 106-DA - Modern Dance (non-majors)

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Dance technique as a combination of movement improvisation and modern technique, emphasizing qualities of movement in space and time. Not applicable to dance majors; open to all other students who have not completed a WB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 109 - Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Learning to meditate can help to calm the mind and encounter life circumstances with greater confidence. Taught as a secular practice, meditation can connect us with our overall wellness by harmonizing mind and body, working with our anxiety and building resilience, regardless of faith and philosophical views. By cultivating a regular sitting and walking meditation practice, and through readings and discussion, students will understand the value of meditation, develop skills to navigate daily life, acquire further self-awareness and tools of reflection, and explore a deeper understanding of what it means to practice mindfulness in everyday experience. Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

WB 110 - Hiking & Backpacking

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
In this semester-long course, we will consider hiking/backpacking as a recreational sport in both its historical and cultural context. Students will have the opportunity to go on hikes and develop/plan their own backpacking trip to fulfill the Physical Well Being requirement. This course is designed to teach the value of both urban nature and wilderness experiences and the knowledge and skill necessary for enjoyable and safe basic hiking and wilderness trips. During Fall and Spring terms, open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Occasionally

WB 115-BI - Cultivating Well Being

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This hands-on gardening course will empower students to make healthy food choices while learning how gardening can improve well being. Students will be challenged to think about where food comes from, how to grow healthy foods at home, and the role gardening can play in a lifetime of well being. Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall

WB 121-PE - Beginning Tennis

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed for the novice or advanced beginner tennis player to develop competent or proficient tennis skills, and to develop confidence in the game of tennis that can be enjoyed across a lifespan. The students will also learn to apply rules, regulations, and courtesies of tennis governed by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). No tennis experience necessary. During Fall and Spring terms, open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Occasionally

WB 124-PE - Basketball

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 125-PE - T’ai Chi

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
T’ai Chi is a traditional Chinese system of stress relief and exercise rooted in the martial arts. Recognizing and relieving stress in conjunction with increasing strength, balance, and coordination contribute to body and mind development. This balanced approach to wellness promotes good health, encourages lifespan physical activity, and an overall quality of life. Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 129-PE - Strength and Conditioning

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed to provide an educational supervised weightlifting environment, which allows students to gain strength, basic knowledge of weight training principles, lifting techniques, and training strategies. Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

WB 131-PE - Beginning Pickleball

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed for the novice, intermediate, or advanced beginner Pickleball player to develop competent or proficient Pickleball skills, and to develop confidence in the game of Pickleball that students can enjoy across a lifespan. The students will also learn to apply rules, regulations, and courtesies of Pickleball governed by the United States of America Pickleball Association (USAPA) and the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP). During Fall and Spring terms, open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 140-MU - Marching Band

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Butler University’s Marching Band has a dual role in providing quality spirited performances on behalf of the University, and in the development of its member’s musicianship, movement skills, and personal wellness. The objective of this course is to develop and instill in its members a lifelong love of music making and the development of good habits of personal wellness and physical activity. Open to students who have not completed a WB course. (U) Fall

WB 141 - Cheerleading

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed to advance the overall well-being for members of the Butler cheerleading squad. Cheerleading is a sport-related activity that requires proficient gymnastics, tumbling, and rhythmic skills for individuals and groups. Emphases will be on skillful performance, sufficient levels of health-related physical fitness, application of fitness principles, proper nutrition, safety, interpersonal relationships, and community awareness that contribute to the centrality of health, wellness and the pursuit of a good life. Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall

WB 160 - Women’s Self Defense

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 162 - Wagging, Walking, and Wellness

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed to foster life-long habits of good health and multidimensional wellness by integrating physical activity, civic awareness, and community service. Emphasis will be on personal and social responsibility for optimal quality of life. Students will partner with the Humane Society of Indianapolis to provide physical activity and play for the animals, learning through service to the community, improved fitness and awareness that health and wellness are central to living a good life. During Fall and Spring terms, open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Occasionally

WB 164 - Continued Study of Yoga

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Continuing Physical Well Being through the Study of Yoga. A course designed for students with prior experience in the physical techniques and philosophy of yoga to achieve a healthier and more balanced life through the ancient practices. 2 years prior experience; Yoga mat required. (U) Occasionally

WB 165 - Pressure Point Self Defense

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
During Fall and Spring terms, open to students who have not completed a PWB course. (U) Occasionally

WB 166 - Intercollegiate Athletics

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
This course is designed to advance sport-specific knowledge, optimal skill levels, health and motor performance fitness, and personal wellness towards sustaining a health-enhancing and physically active lifestyle. During Fall and Spring terms, open to students who have not completed a PWB course. NOTE: enrollment is reserved for students currently participating on an NCAA Division I Butler intercollegiate sports team. (U) Fall, Spring

WB 167 - Independent Study

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
(U)

WB 170-CLA - Walking the Ruins

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
Unlike the sprawling cities of the Midwest, ancient cities developed organically around people getting from point A to point B by foot. Whether in a bustling metropolis like Rome or Athens or a small working-class community like Herculaneum, one sees how traveling by foot shaped the development of neighborhoods. Navigating the meandering streets of Pompeii by foot sheds light on the experience of those who sought refuge from the famed eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This course seeks to help students reconnect with a basic mode of transportation with vast lifelong health and well-being benefits. (U) Summer

WB 172 - Modern Middle Eastern Dance

Min Units: 1
Max Units: 1
An introductory course in the techniques of Middle Eastern dance to advance physical health as well as cultural knowledge of this dance form. Middle Eastern dances are folk dances performed by people of every gender, age, and fitness level. Open to students who have not completed a PWB class. (U) Occasionally

Social World

In Social World courses students (1) study selected questions about human beings and the social, cultural, economic and polical world in which they are embedded, (2) develop an understanding of the variety of quantitative and/or qualitative research methods social scientists use to study the social world, (3) enhance their ability to discern the social, scientific and ethical dimensions of issues in the social world, and (4) understand the interaction between a society’s values and its definition of social problems.

Students may fulfill the requirement either by taking courses designated as Social World courses or by taking at least 9 credit hours in the social sciences, including Anthropology; Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences; Critical Communication and Media Studies; Economics; Organizational Communication and Leadership; International Studies; Journalism; Political Science; Psychology; Science, Technology, and Society; Sociology; Strategic Communication; or majors in the College of Education. For AP/IB equivalencies, see www.butler.edu/registrar.

Course Structure

A menu of 3-credit-hour courses to be taken from the first year onward.

Learning Outcomes

To study selected questions about human beings and the social, cultural, economic, and political world in which they are embedded
To develop an understanding of the variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods social scientists use to study the social world
To develop the ability to discern the social, scientific, and ethical dimensions of issues in the social world, and to understand the interaction between a society’s values and its definition of social problems

Courses

SW 200-SO - Understanding Society

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
An exploration of key concepts, research methods, and theoretical perspectives in sociology applied to a specific topic, theme, or set of topics. Concepts covered include culture, socialization, deviance, social structure, social stratification and inequality (including class, race, and gender), and social institutions. (U) Fall, Spring

SW 205-GE - Cultural Geography: Regions of the World

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Cultural geography introduces students to the Immense cultural diversity of the world. Students will explore diversity of regions with regard to environmental influence, historical origin and diffusion, and contemporary political, cultural, and ecological problems. The course concludes by analyzing contemporary globalization, especially with regard to cultural identity. (U) Annually, term varies

SW 210-AN - Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Japan

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores the socio-historical constructions of sex, gender, and sexuality in modern Japan from the Meiji Restoration (1868) to the present. Students will study the roles of various agents, including the state, medical science, and the media, in the production of sexual knowledge and the shaping of gendered practices. (U) Occasionally

SW 215-AN - Being Human – Anthropological Approaches to Life and Meaning

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Cultural anthropology is a discipline focused on how humans create meaning, forge alliances, and assert differences. This course allows students to explore conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues central to the anthropological study of what it means to be human and make meaning in the world. (U) Annually, term varies

SW 216-AN - Medical Anthropology

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Medical anthropology examines beliefs and practices about sickness, healing, and the body in a cross-cultural and global perspective. This course will focus on such topics such as cultural constructions of the body, theories of disease causation, beliefs about healing and decacy, reproductive technologies, medicalization and risk, pharmaceuticals, emerging infectious diseases, and international public health. In exploring these topics we will think about medical anthropology as a discipline concerned with the production of truths about bodies and environments. How are such truths produced across cultures, medical systems and different historical periods? Such a conception of the field puts into question the hegemony of biomedicine without devaluing its ongoing contribution to human life. We will therefore be interested in the intersection of biology and culture in a variety of contexts and the ongoing dialogue between anthropology and biomedicine. Our key questions: What is medical anthropology? How do anthropologists investigate and respond to the study of pain, illness, suffering, and healing in global contexts? How do seemingly local and global cultural processes shape aspects of our bodies, such as illness, sex, and death? (U) Annually, term varies

SW 219-COE - World Geography through Media & Maps

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Geography is the study of the Earth and its relationship to humans and human activities. This course will examine both the physical and cultural aspects of the Earth and its inhabitants. This includes topics such as major urban concentrations, descriptive physical characteristics of continents and countries, political subdivisions, and general man-land relationships that reflect cultural preferences. Class experiences will include map study activities to enhance investigating the Earth, its systems, and the human/environment interaction. (U) Occasionally

SW 220-EC - The Economy and Society

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course examines important concepts of microeconomics and macroeconomics and analyzes issues such as energy prices, prescription drug costs, pollution, and globalization of markets using these concepts. It explores how economic life is intertwined with a society’s culture, politics, values, and history. Further, it considers the limitations of the economic methodology to place economics in a context with the other social sciences. (U) Annually, term varies

SW 221-LSB - Sustainability in Institutions

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
There is an emerging body of thought that argues that institutions of all sorts, including but not limited to businesses, in order to be successful in the long run need to take into account economic performance, environmental impacts, and social justice. The course will explore what these concepts mean and the challenge of implementing a workable integration of these concepts. The course is crossdisciplinary and will get into issues of science, social science, ethics, and economics. Historically, environmental and social impacts have been considered, if at all, as costs to be ignored, minimized, or externalized as much as possible. This new body of thought argues that environmental quality and social performance should be integrated into institutional strategy. This course will introduce students to economic and ethical analysis in order to help them to have appropriate bases for making judgments. The course will then explore the challenge of minimizing environmental and social impacts. (U) Occasionally

SW 223-RGSS - Resistance for Social Change

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Civil rights, social movements, resistance, and liberation are the subjects of this course. We will examine the ways in which such minoritized populations as people of color, women, the LGBT-identified, and the poor have demanded rights and responsibilities. (U) Fall, Spring

SW 232-RGSS - Intersections of Identity

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will explore the social construction of difference and inequality with particular focus on gender, race, sexuality, and class. Students will interrogate dominant ideologies and develop an understanding of how systems of inequality impact everyone’s daily lives. (U) Fall, Spring

SW 233-AN - Political Islam in Paris: An Anthropological Exploration of Ethnicity in Urban France

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
An introduction to central anthropological concepts of identity formation, cultural diversity, and politics of race in France. The course will develop students’ appreciation of Islamic cultural forms and practices in Europe, as products of and responses to historical circumstances and exigencies, and the ways they become transfigured as they shed and accrue meanings over time in the context of contemporary life in Paris. (U) Occasionally

SW 240-PO - Gender and Generations: War and Peace

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course is organized around the following inquiry: When gender and generation are used as categories of analysis, what do we learn about the politics of violence and peace? We are taking the lenses of gender and age and training them on different aspects of global politics, society, and culture. What forms of violence do we see? (U) Annually, term varies

SW 241S - Making a Difference in the World: Claiming Our Birthright

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In this course we will consider the philosophical and practical question: How can I do “good” and do well simultaneously? Through the exploration of course readings that consider theories and practices of civic engagement and service-learning experiences in local social service agencies, students will: 1) become familiar with social science methodologies that are used to study individuals and communities; 2) develop a working knowledge of social change and intercultural partnerships; and 3) come to understand how they might make both a living and “a life of purpose, in which individual flourishing is intertwined with the welfare of others” (BU Strategic Plan 2009). This course satisfies the Indianapolis Community Requirement through completion of at least 20 hours of community engagement in a course-designed project that connects experience in the Indianapolis community with academic learning goals within the classroom. (U) Occasionally

SW 242-PO - Introduction to U.S. Politics

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course is an introduction to the study of the United States government. Fundamentally, this class is about how we evaluate the quality of American democracy. To do so, we first will focus on the normative debates and values that helped shape the foundations of our democracy. We then will explore how and to what extent mediating and political institutions reflect the attitudes and behavior of individual Americans. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of, and the ability to better navigate, the American political system. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

SW 243-PO - Introduction to Comparative Politics

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Comparative politics, the study of all aspects of politics within country borders, is incredibly useful for making sense of the present. Newscasts, newspapers, and political blogs remind us that we need the theories, insights, and tools this subfield of political science provides. This course will introduce you to comparative approaches and methods, deepen your knowledge of politics across the globe; provide theoretical and conceptual tools to analyze politics; and improve your communication skills. (U) Occasionally

SW 244-PO - Introduction to International Politics

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will introduce you to international politics, the study of global politics and politics across borders. You will learn about vital issues of contemporary concern at the international level and learn about how those issues are and are not addressed by governmental and nongovernmental actors. You also will see how political scientists have thought and theorized about politics at the international level, and how some of those ways of thinking have been criticized and challenged in recent years. (U)

SW 245-PO - Politics from the Margins

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
How do politics really work? Who gets what, where, when, how, and why? This course approaches these questions from the margins, exploring the political expressions and experiences of minoritized people and considering social research on difference, representation, and governance to deepen students’ understanding of politics within and beyond the state. (U) Annually, term varies

SW 250-PS - Psychological Inquiry

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
An introduction to the general principles and facts of behavior, cognition, and emotion as established by the methods of social science. (U) Fall, Spring

SW 251-PS - Determinants of Well-being

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The primary purpose of this course is to explore some of the most significant determinants of well-being through the lens of the biopsychosocial perspective, a scientific approach that focuses on the interplay of biological, psychological and social factors. (U)

SW 259-RX - AntiVax

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The course will be an introductory examination of the evolution of immunization policies and practices in the United States and an exploration of the social, cultural, economic and political factors influencing vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination sentiments. Students will engage in critical reviews and discussions about the growing anti-vaccination movement and develop an understanding of the complex intersections of factors related to a society’s acceptance of vaccination initiatives. (U)

SW 260-RL - Religions, Cults, and (In)Tolerance in America

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
A basic introduction to the religions and religious communities of Indianapolis, and an exploration of prominent issues and themes related to our city’s (and our country’s) increasing religious diversity. (U) Occasionally

SW 261-RX - Health Disparities

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will allow undergraduate students to examine current population-level health issues and the unequal distribution of health through an introduction to the broad and exciting field of public health and health equity. The course will explore the varying historical, environmental, social, cultural, and political determinants of the health of the people of the United States, emphasizing health of vulnerable populations. It will provide students with a unique opportunity to think critically about ways of identifying and addressing current health issues and the unequal distribution of health status throughout the population. In this interactive course, students are encouraged to explore public health issues in their area of study and examine solutions for the same. (U) Occasionally

SW 262-AN - Sport, Empire & Identity

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores sport in the contemporary moment and historically to better understand and appreciate its role in imperial projects and the creation of colonial and post-colonial subjects. Through readings, films, and experiential learning, we will investigate the central and powerful position of sport as a means of defining and dividing people along numerous axes of identification, such as gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality, (dis)ability, and even religious affiliation. (U) Occasionally

SW 263-HST - Slavery & Freedom in the Colonial Caribbean

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
African slavery was a dominant social and economic institution in the Caribbean Basin from the late fifteenth until the late nineteenth centuries. Over that four hundred year span somewhere between 4.5 and 5 million captive Africans were forced into the region by a number of European empires. For perspective, this is nearly ten times the number of slaves that were brought into the British North American colonies and the United States. This dark chapter of human history continues to reverberate through the region’s nations and diverse cultures. This course offers a survey of slavery’s rise and Fall, with special attention devoted to enslaved peoples’ lives and labors, to encourage students to understand slavery in both broadly regional and empire-specific contexts. (U) Occasionally

SW 265-HST - Revolutionary Cultures in Latin America

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Through specific case studies, this course provides the students with the opportunity to study movements in Latin America as they were shaped through the disciplines of anthropology and history. In analyzing revolutionary cultures, students examine relationships between social science and nation building, historiography and national identity, and knowledge and power. (U) Occasionally

SW 266-CCM - Media Literacy

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course is an exploration of the cultural implications of electronic media. Through systematic analysis of the grammar of mediated messages, students develop sensitivity to and a critical understanding of the interplay between popular culture and electronic media, i.e.; how mediated messages influence our lifestyles, attitudes and values and reflect who we are. (U) Fall, Spring, Summer

SW 267-HST - Designing for Livable Cities

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores livability through aspects of inclusive urban design, architectural history, walkability, public space, and community viability with a focus on the built environment. Students accomplish various research projects and reflective assignments to demonstrate application of knowledge in urban design and local issues of community development as takeaway lessons that apply to multiple disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. (U) Occasionally

SW 270-IS - Understanding Global Issues

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The course addresses the intensification of globalization during the first decade of the 21st century. It introduces students to contemporary issues related to globalization. (U) Fall

SW 275-BI - Mental Illness: Biological, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Mental illness affects nearly one fourth of adults and involves both biological and social influences. This team-taught, interdisciplinary course will explore mental illness from biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives, including the methods used by researchers in each of these fields and the experiences of patients with mental illness. (U) Fall

SW 280-ST - Hunger and Obesity

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Why do we eat what we eat? Why are food-insecurity (hunger) and obesity both growing problems in the United States and globally? What are food deserts, and how/why do they form? Why do we need food stamp programs? What are the consequences of industrializing and globalizing systems of food production? How do scientists and policy makers study and measure the causes and consequences of hunger and obesity? This course will begin to answer these and other questions through critical readings, reflections, and discussions of important texts and ideas in the area of critical food studies. Students will develop their abilities to think critically about how food production and consumption has significant human health, societal, and environmental consequences. (U) Annually, term varies

SW 281-RX - Research Ethics

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This is an introductory course related to the values in biomedical sciences. The course will emphasize on ethical, societal, and legal issues in biomedicine and how scientific integrity, mentorship, and ownership of inventions leads human health globally. Students will engage in critical analyses, discussion, and presentations on published cases on misconduct and ethical violations in biomedical research, and mistreatment of humans and animals. (U) Fall

SW 282-ST - Science, Technology & Society

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Science is more than a body of facts and technology more than a pile of gadgets. In this course we will explore how scientific and technological achievements reflect and influence their social, cultural, historical, political and economic contexts. We shall learn how techniques from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy and rhetoric can be used to study interactions between science, technology and society. (U) Fall and spring
Prerequisite(s): none
Corequisite(s): none

SW 283-ENV - Environment and Society

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Nature and the environment are not just “out there, somewhere” beyond society where people are not present. Nature has always included people and people have always been a part of nature. In this course we will critically interrogate diverse environment-society (or ecosocial) relationships from a variety of social scientific and humanistic perspectives. We will seek to explore the immediate and root causes of the world’s most pressing environmental problems and consider the desirability and feasibility of proposed solutions. The course will also encourage students to engage the personal and collective work of social change to increase environmental citizenship, democratic decision making, and sustainability. (U) Fall and spring
Prerequisite(s): none
Corequisite(s): none

Texts and Ideas

In Texts and Ideas courses, students develop the ability to read, analyze, and compare complex texts while discussing ideas that have influenced society in different cultural and historical contexts. At the same time, TI courses also use the ideas promoted by assigned texts as an opportunity for students to examine (1) their own and others’ ideas, (2) how socially influential ideas emerge, (3) how they grow to be influential, (4) how the they emerge from and structure particular societies, and (5) who promotes, benefits from, and contests them (and why). Texts and Ideas courses also teach students to express themselves more effectively in one or several genres (e.g., essays, oral presentations, blogs, websites, artwork) chosen at the discretion of the faculty teaching them.

Students may fulfill the requirement either by taking a course designated as a Texts and Ideas course or by taking at least 9 credit hours in humanities courses, including most English, History, Philosophy, and Religion courses, as well as literature courses taught in classical and modern languages. For AP/IB equivalencies, see www.butler.edu/registrar.

Course Structure

A menu of 3-credit-hour courses to be taken from the first year onward.

Learning Outcomes

To engage in reading, writing, and discussion about important ideas drawn from the study of important texts in a variety of areas, including, among others, texts that represent literary, dramatic, sacred, historical, philosophical, and scientific genres
To develop capacities for argument, interpretation, and aesthetic appreciation through engagement with these texts and ideas

Courses

TI 200-CLA - Roman Perspectives

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will examine civic engagement in the Roman world, both as a pagan and Christian capital for the West. We will undertake this investigation by looking at a variety of original sources translated into English. As we examine the texts of these authors, we will also have the opportunity to think about how the ideas of the ancient Romans have influenced cultures from Britain, France, and Spain in the West to the shores of North Africa to the civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. (U) Fall

TI 201-CLA - Ancient Greek Perspectives

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
An examination of areas of ancient Greek culture. Sources include texts of poetry, history, drama, law, medicine, and philosophy, as well as works of art. Themes will vary depending on the professor. Possible themes: deep thinking and free thinking, participating in democracy, gender roles, warfare, and empire. (U) Spring

TI 204-HST - Questions in History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores histories of particular geographical locations through cultural production. Focusing on primary sources inspired by and reflected in their location and era (ranging from diaries and travel narratives to literature and manifestos), the course will ask how historical context influences texts and ideas and vice versa. (U) Occasionally

TI 205-HST - The American Constitutional Tradition

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will examine the historical debate about what contributions made were to the American Constitution by European, Euro American, and Native American traditions both in theory and practice from 1200 to 1790. (U) Occasionally

TI 206-HST - The Discovery of the Individual

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will study the new sense of individual self which emerges in medieval and modern Europe and how that development of individuality differs from ancient societies and other communities in the world today. Readings from Homer and Confucius onwards. (U) Occasionally

TI 207-HST - The Great War

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This class explores how the First World War shapes our lives today. The impact of global conflict a century ago can still be seen in international politics, social thought, the arts, and technology. (U) Occasionally

TI 208-HST - Chinese Civilization

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course offers a broad survey of the history of China. It is intended to provide students with a basic introduction to the culture, society, politics, philosophies, and religious practices that constituted Chinese civilization. As Chinese civilization is roughly 5,000 years old, this course approaches its subject thematically and historically. It seeks to build connections across disparate periods and epochs by stressing continuity in Chinese history, while also paying close attention to the many ways that China has changed. (U) Occasionally

TI 210-EN - Early American Literatures

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces students to early American literatures. Texts for the course will come primarily from the period up to the American Civil War, and both the texts and the authors studied will be placed within their larger literary and cultural contexts. Particular themes for the course will be published each semester in the schedule of classes. (U) Fall

TI 211-EN - American Literatures

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces students to American literatures. Texts for the course will come primarily from the period after the American Civil War, and both the texts and the authors studied will be placed within their larger literary and cultural contexts. Particular themes for the course will be published each semester in the schedule of classes. (U) Spring

TI 212-EN - Early British Literatures

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces students to early British literatures. Texts for the course will come primarily from the period up to 1800, and both the texts and the authors studied will be placed within their larger literary and cultural contexts. Particular themes for the course will be published each semester in the schedule of classes. (U) Fall

TI 213-EN - British Literatures

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces students to early British literatures. Texts for the course will come primarily from the period after 1800, and both the texts and the authors studied will be placed within their larger literary and cultural contexts. Particular themes for the course will be published each semester in the schedule of classes. (U) Spring

TI 214-EN - Shakespeare

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Introduces Shakespeare’s themes, stagecraft, language, and moral vision with special attention to the varieties of human experience portrayed in the plays. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 215-EN - Theory, Culture, Criticism

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course is an introduction to cultural studies: a critical, theoretical, interpretive, and interdisciplinary way to understand our world and our place in it. This course will look at diverse cultural objects – novels, plays, films, visual arts, and media – through the lens of literary and cultural theories, with the goal of producing sophisticated readers of the contemporary world. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 216-EN - GALA Literary Studies In Situ

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course surveys fiction, poetry and plays of a country or countries visited during a short-term study abroad trip. Focusing on a particular theme in literature inspired by and reflected in its location, the course asks how the experience of travel in a country influences our ability to interpret its literary texts. (U) Occasionally

TI 217-EN - The World(s) of Science Fiction

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course provides a balanced chronological overview of the genre of science fiction, reaching back centuries for predecessor texts and continuing through to present day, to explore how its surface tropes (robots, space and aliens, time travel, superpowers, et. al.) embody metaphorical opportunities to analyze real-life historical and cultural trends and events, and expressive opportunities to reflect upon a range of interdisciplinary themes. (U) Spring

TI 218-EN - Topics in Medical Humanities

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
“Medical Humanities” examines medicine through the lens of history, philosophy, and art. Class topics include mental illness, epidemics, bioethics, and birth and death. Students will learn to think about these topics in relation to power, justice, race, class, and gender. (U)

TI 219-EN - Global Imaginaries

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course introduces students to global works of imagination in translation and English. Both the texts and the authors studied will be placed within their larger literary and cultural contexts. Particular themes for the course will be published each semester in the schedule of classes. (U) Annually, term varies

TI 223-EN - Disability in American Lit

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Stereotypical depictions of the disabled figure appear throughout American Literature. Whether the monstrous “other,” or romanticized, tragic heroine, portrayals of disability are designed to elicit fear, pity, and Occasionallyly awe in readers. However, works by artists with disabilities tend to challenge these depictions in content and form in unconventional and radical ways. In this course, we will use disability studies theory to analyze how representations of impairment and difference reflect and reinforce American cultural expectations of normality and ability; however, we will also move beyond examination of disabled characters and disability tropes to consider how literary texts depend on disability to generate meaning. How does the inclusion of disability shape narrative? In what ways has disability shaped a modern aesthetic? How does the presence of disability in literary texts intersect with ideas about race, gender, and class? We will engage with a variety of texts to discuss how writers draw attention to inclusivity, access, and social justice. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 224-FL - Topics in Linguistics

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course focuses on the relationship between one or several languages and society. Topics will explore aspects of a linguistic context, such as history, politics, culture, identity, nationalism, education, gender, racism, power, attitudes, multilingualism, language policies, and concerns of linguistics today in a given part of the world. (U) Occasionally

TI 225-GR - Literary Responses to Two World Wars

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Our investigation of British, German, French, Italian, and Russian literature will be structured around the two world wars, arguably the most defining catastrophes to beFall modern Europe. We will consider how writers such as Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, George Orwell, Paul Celan, Heinrich Boll, Gunter Grass, and Vladimir Nabokov responded to the violence of the wars as well as to the far-reaching social changes they brought about. (U) Occasionally

TI 226-GR - Oppression and Revolution: The German Democratic Republic

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores oppression and revolution in the German “Democratic” Republic (U) Occasionally

TI 229-HST - Themes in World History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course emphasizes the increasing connectivity of regional cultures, especially from the rise of the Silk Road civilizations 2000 years ago to the present. Specific topics include the diffusion of cultural innovations, immigration, long-distance trade, the spread of diseases, and empire-building. (U) Fall

TI 230-HST - Imagined World

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will examine, through an array of literary, historical, and philosophical texts, some of the ways in which people have tried to understand their own world and their own lives through the creation of “imagined worlds.” Some of those worlds are exterior – a map of the world created by a 16th-century Venetian monk living on an island in the harbor of Venice, listening to the tales of travelers who visit him; while some are interior – a fictional character trying to come to terms with the death of his wife, and his own impending mortality, by revisiting (reinventing?) the site of his childhood Summer vacations. Having explored, discussed, and written about the imagined worlds of others, toward semester’s end class participants will have the opportunity to create their own imagined world. (U) Occasionally

TI 231-HST - Mad Women

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Mother. Daughter. Wife. For generations those titles were assumed to contain the hopes and dreams of all women, and any woman who denied this was “mad” – angry or crazy. In this course, we will examine the lives and experiences of actual and fictional women designated as “mad” and consider how they have been represented in the arts and in history texts. We will start with readings of cross-cultural examples of mad women Lilith, Medea, and La Lllorna, and then narrow our focus to consider such women in U.S. history and culture. Course sources include music, film, art, poetry, and traditional history accounts. (U) Occasionally

TI 233-HST - Hidden History – Gender/Sex in Latin America

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
A “traitor” sleeping with the enemy. Cross-dressing nuns. Slave mistress. The seventh muse. A bisexual painter. The “(Night)Mare” of Argentina. Guerrilla woman. Nobel Prize-winning Indian. The history of Latin America abounds with examples of illustrious and controversial women, yet the general perception of Latin America is of lands populated by machos. The history of the area – as elsewhere – usually concentrates on the actions of men without examining why and forgets the feats of women as well as the importance of gender and sexuality, which has remained a “hidden history.” In this course we will uncover that hidden history by examining changing ideas of both femininity and masculinity in Latin America from the start of colonialism until recent times. (U) Occasionally

TI 234-HST - Reel America – Film and the American Experience, 1890-1965

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Famed film director Sydney Pollack said of film, “It’s the 20th century’s real art form.” This has been particularly true in the United States, where film has been an important means of transmitting definitions about American values and identity. This course examines the role of film in depicting the American experience in the 20th century and does so with a particular emphasis upon the interpretation of film within a community of other texts drawn from the period. (U) Occasionally

TI 235-HST - American Visions: American Visions? American Dreams? American Nightmares?

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
What does it mean to be an American? Are there connective cultural/historical threads across time that help to form a national identity? These and other questions are at the heart of a raucous, multifaceted exploration of American history, identity, and culture. (U) Annually, term varies

TI 237-HST - Themes in European History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will survey formative periods in European societies from the 12th century to the present. Emphasis throughout will be on the evolution of the nation-state; the emergence of industrial, capitalist, and socialist economies; and transformations in thought. (U) Occasionally

TI 238-HST - Major Themes in Asian History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Through analyzing sacred, historical, and literary texts, this course offers a survey of major themes in Asian history from ancient times to the present, with a focus on the interactions among cultures and states in the modern period. The themes explored can vary from semester to semester. (U) Occasionally

TI 239-HST - Exploring Latin America

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course presents a different vision of America, that is, the America situated south of the border from the United States. Using an array of primary sources (including literary texts and visual materials), it introduces students to the history of Latin America since its independence. (U) Occasionally

TI 240-PL - Ethics of War and Peace

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will focus on two normative approaches to war, just war theory and pacifism. We will first examine how soldiers learn to kill and how killing impacts them psychologically and morally. Next, we will explore just-war principles for justly starting and executing war on the basis of case studies, such as the terror bombing in the Second World War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo intervention, the Afghanistan war, and the second Iraq War. Special attention will be paid to humanitarian intervention, terrorism, and the doctrine of preventive war. During the final weeks of the semester we will discuss the philosophy of nonviolence and antiwar pacifism. (U) Occasionally

TI 241-PL - Classics of Social and Political Thought

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
A critical study of major texts in the history of Western social and political thought, such as Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Politics, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Hobbes’ Leviathan, and Marx’s Communist Manifesto. Attention will be given to both the historical and contemporary relevance of the texts. (U) Occasionally

TI 242-PL - Marginalized in America

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In this course we will begin by getting clear on concepts that will help us better understand the relationship between oppression, ignorance, and privilege. This will allow us to have thoughtful discussions about sites of marginalization (including race, gender and sexuality, class, ability, and carceral status), their significance to your lived experiences, and how to transform them in the pursuit of a more just America. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 243-PL - Knowledge and Reality

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Fundamental philosophical questions about knowledge and reality will be studied through the analysis of classical and contemporary texts. Topics may include skepticism, the relationship between faith and reason, the nature of mind, free will, the nature and existence of the external world, and the nature and existence of God. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 244-PL - Ethics, the Good Life, and Society

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Fundamental philosophical questions about right conduct, virtues and vices, the good life, and social policy will be examined on the basis of classical and contemporary texts. Topics include issues of personal and social ethics, such as forgiveness, tolerance and hate speech, abortion, animal rights, and world poverty. Theories of justice, human rights, and meta-ethical topics may also be covered. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 249-AN - Native American Literatures

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In the past, the creators of Native American literature were oral performers, people who used the power of the spoken and sung word rather than the pen. Today, native peoples continue to draw on the power of oral performance, but also employ written and visual media to create literary texts both sacred and secular. In this course, we will explore these multimedia texts in their social, cultural, and historical contexts. We will begin with oral literature-including sacred myths, legends, ritual poetry, and prophecies-reading and listening to them not only for their artistry but for what they reveal about community values, beliefs, and worldview. We will then trace these topics through short stories, novels, and films in order to understand the breadth and complexity of Native American literatures across a select number of tribes and nations in order to develop a deep understanding of distinct national and ethnic identities within “Indian Country.” (U) Occasionally

TI 249-HST - Native American Narrative and Oral Traditions

TI 250-RL - Religions of the World

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
An introduction to the texts, practices, and ideas of the world’s major religious traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the indigenous traditions of Africa and the Americas. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 251-RL - The Bible

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Introduction to the content, historical context, methods of study, religious ideas, and cultural influence of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. (U) Fall, Spring

TI 255-PO - The Politics of Alice Walker

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course will introduce students to the great works of Alice Walker, who is accomplished in many literary areas – poetry, short stories, novels, and political/cultural essays. Infused in all of her works is her personal and evolving political worldview, with which so many diverse people identify, and yet her voice is distinctly African-American female. We will read an array of her texts and develop an understanding of what drives her political identity. (U) Spring

TI 256-PO - The Federalist Papers

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The heart of this course, utilizing The Federalist Papers and ensuing debates as our guide, is to assess the quality of American democracy - then and now. To do so, we first will engage competing conceptions of democracy. Next, we will evaluate the interests of the Framers and the perspectives excluded from the romantic ideals of our founding. Then we will address the normative debates and values that helped shape our Constitution. Finally, we will consider modern-day applications to reexamine whether the promise of the Federalist Papers meet the needs of a democratic society in the 21st Century. (U) Occasionally

TI 257-PO - Basic Political Thought

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course examines a selection of classics in the history of political thought, coming from thinkers in times and places as diverse as Ancient Greece and 20th century Algeria. We will learn to question received, commonsense ideas about politics by examining enduring questions about the character of politics, its origins, what makes polities legitimate, and the role of power, identity, and economics in constructing political societies. Rather than comprehensively examine the breadth of this history, we will sample a few of the great thinkers in this tradition to learn to think critically and deeply about politics. (U)

TI 262S - Self and Service

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In this course, students will read texts that explore the self and the concept of service. Readings will examine the world of children and senior citizens. Sample authors include: Alexie, Updike, and Junot Diaz. Students will create oral and written histories of themselves and a person (child or senior) they serve. This 3 credit hour course is designated service learning (at least 20 hrs service required) with a child or senior. (U) Fall

TI 265-COE - Cultural Appreciation of Australian Literature

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
Students will analyze fiction/non-fiction stories and poems of Australian authors where they will examine cultural differences/similarities and aesthetic appreciation between Australia and the US through a variety of literature types. Selected readings will vary but may include “Breath” by Tim Winton, “The Secret River” by Kate Grenville, and “Tracks” by Robyn Davidson. (U)

TI 270-TH - The American Family in Drama

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
The course will examine various views of family relationships through the study of American plays from the 20th and early 21st centuries. (U) Occasionally

TI 271 - Ancient Greek History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This class delves deeply into the corpus of ancient Greek historical documents and literature to trace the development of critical themes and examine how those ideas are relevant in our lives today. Themes examined will include (depending on instructor): good government, change in political structures over time, war and conflict, complex definitions of identity, the economy, resistance and dissent. Sources examined will include historical literature, inscriptions, and coins, among others. (U) Annually, term varies

TI 272-CLA - Ancient Roman History

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3

In this course, we will explore the history of ancient Rome beginning with the foundation of the monarchy through the fall of the Republic to the Imperial period ending with the reign of the emperor Constantine. we will have the opportunity to read a diverse collection of Roman literature and thought. The readings will focus on primary source material including ancient Roman historical documents and literature in combination with other types of ‘texts,’ including inscriptions, coins, and public monuments.

While the structure of the course is chronological and framed by political events, we will also address Roman practices of enslavement, attitudes towards women and family, constructions of gender and sexuality, warfare, and religion. Through the examination of this historical source material, students will gain a full understanding Roman history/society/culture and development of thought, think critically about a range of source material and methods of source critique, and reflect on the legacy of the Romans in the modern world. (U)