Philosophy Courses (PHI)

 

110     Philosophical Thinking (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. An exploration of the nature and content of philosophical inquiry. Offered Each Semester.

 

113     Critical Thinking (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. In this course critical thinking will be presented as a set of skills that has been long established and well defined in our philosophical tradition. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

203     The Question of the Human (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as HUM and REL 203. In order to explore the dignity and worth of the human, the course examines the relationship between the individual and community. Through a series of readings and reflections, the attempt is made to expose the inter-relatedness of various thinkers from the liberal arts tradition. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

209     Science and Values (3)

This course will explore the standards, values, and goals of science by examining issues related to bioethics and health care, technology, the environment, and animal rights. Rather than viewing science merely as a cold impersonal way of arriving at the objective truth about natural phenomena, this course is premised on the idea that science is intimately involved in questions of values; it is committed to standards of right and wrong, and in doing so it moves toward larger social aims. Offered As Needed.

 

211     African American Thought (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as REL 211. This course explores the tradition of African-American response to slavery and legalized racism. After some brief historical background, this course will focus on three particularly important moments in this tradition of resistance: the slave narratives (especially Frederick Douglass and Linda Brent), the turn of the century debates over education (especially Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey), and the civil rights movement (especially this student movement, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and the Black Power movement.) Offered As Needed.

 

213     Reflections on Contemporary Moral Issues (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as REL 213. Designed to be offered in learning community format with BIO 200 Science and Contemporary Social Issues. The course introduces students to moral issues and questions with regard to such matters as human cloning, genetic engineering, stem cell research, euthanasia, the environment and sustainability, and the emergence of life (e.g., fetal development). Offered As Needed.

 

222     Healing, Holism, and Spirituality in Health Care (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as NUR 222. An interdisciplinary course designed to explore the meaning and mutual interconnectedness of healing, holism, spirituality, and care. Students investigate the role of spirituality in their own lives, the power of healing and care in medicine and everyday experience, and complementary therapeutic modalities. There is special focus on the living-dying continuum, the interrelatedness of the universe, and the implications of cultural differences. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

231     Moments of Vision (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as HUM/REL 231. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Chautauqua Society and the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. The objective of this course is to consider the human imagination as it gives rise to certain visions which speak to dimensions of human experience with respect to a depth otherwise lost and hidden in the everyday world. The course explores the predicaments of evil and suffering, joy and silence, to gain an understanding of the need for visions about the boundaries and depths which open within human experience. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

232     Learning Through Service (3)

Fulfills core competency: Civic Responsibility. Fulfills Service Learning requirement. Cross-listed as HUM/REL 232. Learning experience through participation as a volunteer for approximately four hours per week in a community-based agency within the area. Students will also be expected to keep a journal account of their experiences and attend class every other week for about an hour to process with others what is being learned. The focus of the course is to help students gain an appreciation that being of service to others is a way of learning and a way of growing as a person. Offered As Needed.

 

234     Religious and Scientific Views of the World (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as REL 234. The focus of this interdisciplinary course is to engage in healthy dialogue with respect to problems and possibilities, conflicts and complementarities, differences and/or similarities of religious and scientific perspectives. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

247     Selected Topics in Philosophy (3)

Specific areas of concern for philosophical inquiry will be singled out for investigation from semester to semester. Included under these are considerations of the philosophy of science, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of law, the philosophy of education. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Each Year.

 

248     Selected Periods in the History of Philosophy (3)

Selected periods in the History of Philosophy, e.g. ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, modern philosophy, etc. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

306     Eastern Philosophies (3)

This course will explore various philosophical and religious concepts in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. Some cultural and historical background will be provided from which students can understand better how these various concepts, with their associated symbols and myths, arose. A methodology will be provided by which these concepts might be related to the spectacle of our age. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

308     The Religious and Spiritual Traditions of the World (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. Cross-listed as HUM/REL 308. This course will help the student appreciate the religious and spiritual approaches of both the East and West. Attention will be paid to such classic Indian traditions as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism; to such Western spiritual traditions as Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and to Native American and Goddess worship. Offered Each Year.

 

309     The Holocaust (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as REL 309. This course analyzes the variety of historical, religious, philosophical and political issues posed by the Nazi policy of systematic genocide. We will explore religious and racial anti-Semitism, the philosophy of fascism, the logic of genocide and the development and implementation of the final solution. Attention will also be paid to concentration camp life and to its effect upon the perpetrators and the survivors. Offered Each Year.

 

310     Nature in Human Experience (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment.  This course will examine the philosophical foundations of our relations with nature. It will explore the values humans find in nature, and the responsibility humans have to the natural environment. It will discuss the ethical dimensions of our relation with animals. Finally, it will study a number of contemporary environmental issues. Offered Each Year.

 

312     Ethics (3)

An examination of the principal ethical theories and their relevance to problems of conduct. Readings from classical and contemporary philosophy on the nature of the moral life. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

314     Aesthetics (3)

An analysis of aesthetic experience in art, nature, and life worlds. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

315     Social Philosophy (3)

An examination of some of the philosophical concepts and moral principles employed in the rational appraisal of social life. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

321     Medical Ethics (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Topics to be discussed include general introduction to ethical theory, health as a value, death and dying, euthanasia, behavior control, medical care and distributive justice. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Each Year.

 

322     Philosophy of Law (3)

An exploration of some of the fundamental issues in the philosophy of law. Topics discussed include: the nature of law, law and morality, issues involving freedom of speech and constitutional interpretation, equality and the law, responsibility, crime and punishment, issues in tort law. Offered As Needed.

 

326     The Meaning of Care in a Technological Society (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. Cross-listed as HUM/REL 326. This course will probe the complexity of the issue of human values as these relate to a humane and meaningful future for society. It is a course committed to discovering the interrelations of religious and ethical thinking with the social issues of economics, politics, science and technology. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

328     Comparative Genocide (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as REL 328. This course will examine phenomenon of modern genocide, with particular attention to the ideological motivation of the perpetrators and to the effect upon families and individuals. After some opening theoretical reflections on the connection between modernity and genocide, the course will focus on four particular examples: American slavery, the Nazi final solution, the Khmer Rouge revolution, and the recent genocide in Rwanda. Offered As Needed.

 

447     Research Seminar in Philosophy (3)

This course will be used: 1) to examine in detail certain fundamental fields of Philosophy such as Metaphysics and Epistemology; 2) to study in depth one or several major authors in philosophy; 3) to conduct an intensive study of a particular topic, e.g., utopias, peace, humanism, aesthetics or environments, etc. Prerequisite: PHI 110 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

Religious Studies Courses (REL)

 

105     God and Violence (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. This course explores the nature of the three Western monotheistic religions of the Book (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and seeks to understand the way that these religions both encourage and discourage inter-communal violence. The course focuses upon the way that holiness and holy spaces function within the foundational texts and practices of each religion. Includes exploration of the role that the holy places in Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia have played in conflicts between Jews and Christians, between Muslims and Jews, and between Islam and the United States. Offered As Needed.

 

109     Contemporary Religious Thought (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. An examination of the different approaches to religious thinking. The content and methodological assumptions of various schools of religious inquiry. Offered Each Semester.

 

200     Introduction to Old Testament (3)

A course for beginners in the literature of the Hebrew Bible. Particular emphasis will be directed to the Pentateuch, especially the Book of Genesis. Special attention will be paid to the archeology, sociology, anthropology and geography of the Bible as keys to interpretation. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

203     The Question of the Human (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as HUM/PHI 203. In order to explore the dignity and worth of the human, the course examines the relationship between the individual and community. Through a series of readings and reflections, the attempt is made to expose the inter-relatedness of various thinkers from the liberal arts tradition. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

211     African American Thought (3)

Fulfills core requirement: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as PHI 211. This course explores the tradition of African-American response to slavery and legalized racism. After some brief historical background, this course will focus on three particularly important moments in this tradition of resistance: the slave narratives (especially Frederick Douglass and Linda Brent), the turn of the century debates over education (especially Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey), and the civil rights movement (especially this student movement, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and the Black Power movement). Offered As Needed.

 

213     Reflections on Contemporary Moral Issues (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as PHI 213. Designed to be offered in learning community format with BIO 200 Science and Contemporary Social Issues. The course introduces students to moral issues and questions with regard to such matters as human cloning, genetic engineering, stem cell research, euthanasia, the environment and sustainability, and the emergence of life (e.g., fetal development). Offered As Needed.

 

221     Introduction to the New Testament (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. An introduction to the historical and cultural background of the New Testament era. The emphasis will be upon methods of interpretation and textual investigation of central ideas. Presentation of contemporary insight in New Testament criticism. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

224     Women and Religion (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as Women’s Studies (WST 224). This course will explore the place of women in the three Western monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). The course will explore the views of women found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the non-canonical Gospels, and the Koran. It will also explore modern attempts to rework the biblical tradition (e.g., in the novel The Red Tent) and to confront the Islamic revolution (e.g., in the graphic novels Persepolis I & II). The class will also explore a number of contentious gender related issues (e.g., birth control, women clergy, traditional marriage, homosexuality.) Offered As Needed.

 

225     Readings in World Culture (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment.  Cross-listed as PHI 225. This course is part of a learning community exploring the relationship among texts, historical contexts, and cultural conflicts.  Students will study crucial moments in the modern era (i.e. slavery, the Holocaust, the Native American experience, the Cold War, and the immigrant experience) and will examine a variety of different texts (film, memoirs, novels, speeches, etc) that reflect and comment upon these seminal historical moments and conflicts.  Offered As Needed.

 

231     Moments of Vision (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as HUM/PHI 231. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Chautauqua Society and the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. The objective of this course is to consider the human imagination as it gives rise to certain visions which speak to dimensions of human experience with respect to a depth otherwise lost and hidden in the everyday world. The course explores the predicaments of evil and suffering, joy and silence. To gain an understanding of the need for visions about the boundaries and depths which open within human experience. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

232     Learning Through Service (3)

Fulfills core competency: Civic Responsibility. Fulfills Service Learning requirement. Cross-listed as HUM/PHI 232. Learning experience through participation as a volunteer for approximately four hours per week in a community-based agency within the area. Students will also be expected to keep a journal account of their experiences and attend class every other week for about an hour to process with others what is being learned. The focus of the course is to help students gain an appreciation that being of service to others is a way of learning and a way of growing as a person. Offered As Needed.

 

234     Religious and Scientific Views of the World (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Cross-listed as PHI 234. The focus of this interdisciplinary course is to engage in healthy dialogue with respect to problems and possibilities, conflicts and complementarities, differences and/or similarities of religious and scientific perspectives. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

247     Selected Topics (3)

Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

308     The Religious and Spiritual Tradition of the World (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. Cross-listed as HUM/PHI 308. This course will help the student appreciate the religious and spiritual approaches of both the East and West. Attention will be paid to such classic Indian traditions as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism; to such Western spiritual traditions as Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and to Native American and Goddess worship. Offered Each Year.

 

309     The Holocaust (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as PHI 309. This course analyzes the variety of historical, religious, philosophical and political issues posed by the Nazi policy of systematic genocide. We will explore religious and racial anti-Semitism, the philosophy of fascism, the logic of genocide and the development and implementation of the final solution. Attention will also be paid to concentration camp life and to its effect upon the perpetrators and the survivors. Offered Each Year.

 

313     Religious Values and Contemporary Moral Problems (3)

The interaction between religious values and contemporary moral concerns. A discussion of selected ethical topics and perspective, nature of religious ethics and the meaning of religious values for modern society. Prerequisite: REL109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

315     Religious Themes in Modern Literature (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. The purpose of this course is to analyze the relationship of theology to literature by examining the religious dimensions as they are portrayed in modern creative literature. Themes to be developed will be: religious perspectives in eastern and western religions, the pursuit of religious identity in western culture, good and evil, relationship of sacred to profane, the loss of innocence, love, suffering, freedom and destiny, time and eternity. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

316     Gospel Scholarship: Assessing the Field (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking. This course will examine recent trends within New Testament scholarship, with particular attention to recent scholarship on the Gospel. The course will focus on three large sets of topics: methodological questions (what is the best approach to reading the Gospels?), ideological questions (what is place of gender and social status in the analysis of the Gospels?) and historical questions (what is the relationship between the Gospels and their historical environment?). In particular, the course will focus on the following topics: historical reconstructions of the situation in Palestine during and immediately following the life of Jesus; feminist readings of the Gospel; Christian conflicts with Judaism; the relationship between early Christianity and the Roman empire; and the interrelationship between the Gospels. Students will be asked to read and evaluate the recent forms of criticism and to draw their own conclusions on how best to approach the text. Offered As Needed.

 

322     The Gospels (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. After locating the Gospels in the complex and diverse world of first century Judaism, we will examine the four New Testament Gospels as well as other, non-canonical Gospels (The Coptic Gospel of Thomas, The Sayings Source). Particular attention will be paid to the distinctive structure, characterization, themes, rhetoric and theology of each Gospel. Offered As Needed.

 

326     The Meaning of Care in a Technological Society (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. Cross-listed as HUM/REL 326. This course will probe the complexity of the issue of human values as they relate to a humane and meaningful future for society. It is a course committed to discovering the interrelations of religious and ethical thinking with the social issues of economics, politics, science and technology. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

328     Comparative Genocide (3)

Fulfills core competency: Moral and Ethical Discernment. Cross-listed as PHI 328. This course will examine phenomenon of modern genocide, with particular attention to the ideological motivation of the perpetrators and to the effect upon families and individuals. After some opening theoretical reflections on the connection between modernity and genocide, the course will focus on four particular examples: American slavery, the Nazi final solution, the Khmer Rouge revolution, and the recent genocide in Rwanda. Offered As Needed.

 

331-332         Reading List (4)

Seminar provides a discussion of literature in the discipline. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

351     Psychology and Religion (3)

A comparison of healthy personality development with theological models of sanctity. Freud, Jung, Fromm, Frankl, Maslow, etc. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered Alternate Years.

 

443     Proseminar (2)

Introduction to research through an individual project. Required of all seniors. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

447     Current Theological Issues (3)

Creativity and freedom, evil and death, identity and integrity, technology and values, theology of hope, women and religion. Prerequisite: REL 109 or permission of instructor or Department Chair. Offered As Needed.

 

Humanities Courses (HUM)

 

203     The Question of the Human (3)

Cross-listed as PHI/REL 203. In order to explore the dignity and worth of the human, the course examines the relationship between the individual and community. Through a series of readings and reflections, the attempt is made to expose the inter-relatedness of various thinkers from the liberal arts tradition. Offered Alternate Years.

 

231     Moments of Vision (3)

Cross-listed as PHI/REL 231. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Chautauqua Society and the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. The objective of this course is to consider the human imagination as it gives rise to certain visions which speak to dimensions of human experience with respect to a depth otherwise lost and hidden in the everyday world. The course explores the predicaments of evil and suffering, joy and silence, to gain an understanding of the need for visions about the boundaries and depths which open within human experience. Offered As Needed.

 

232     Learning Through Service (3)

Fulfills core competency: Civic Responsibility. Fulfills Service Learning requirement. Cross-listed as PHI/REL 232. Learning experience through participation as a volunteer for approximately four hours per week in a community-based agency within the area. Students will also be expected to keep a journal account of their experiences and attend class every other week for about an hour to process with others what is being learned. The focus of the course is to help students gain an appreciation that being of service to others is a way of learning and a way of growing as a person. Offered As Needed.

 

247     Selected Topics (3)

Cross-listed as REL 247. Offered As Needed.

 

308     The Religious and Spiritual Traditions of the World (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. Cross-listed as HUM/PHI 308. This course will help the student appreciate the religious and spiritual approaches of both the East and West. Attention will be paid to such classic Indian traditions as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism; to such Western spiritual traditions as Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and to Native American and Goddess worship. Offered Each Year.

 

326     The Meaning of Care in a Technological Society (3)

Fulfills core curriculum competency: Contextual Competency. Cross-listed as HUM/REL 326. This course will probe the complexity of the issue of human values as these relate to a humane and meaningful future for society. It is a course committed to discovering the interrelations of religious and ethical thinking with the social issues of economics, politics, science and technology. Offered Alternate Years.

 

331     Reading List (3)

Given the personalized nature of this program, the reading list a student follows will be arrived at under the guidance of a specific faculty advisor or advisors. The student initiates this course by proposing a course of study and develops an appropriate set of starting points. These are modified and/or approved in the course of study only by mutual agreement between chosen faculty and the student pursuing his/her objectives. Offered As Needed.

 

443     Proseminar (3)

Ideally, this is an extension and completion of a project initiated under the guidance and direction of a faculty advisor in the Reading List. The end projects can be as various as: biographies, journals, historical research, a poetry collection, a novel, a study of an institution of culture, etc. Offered As Needed.

 

451-452         Field Experience (6)

A combination of seminar meetings and community field experience in the humanities. Offered As Needed.

 

Interdisciplinary Humanities Course (IND)

 

241     Contemporary Problems: An Ethical Approach (2-3)

An interdisciplinary seminar oriented toward a contemporary understanding of traditional ethical values. Such questions as civil disobedience, the redistribution of wealth, and violent and nonviolent political change will be considered through reading and discussing such authors as Daniel Berrigan, Reinhold Niebuhr, Michael Harrington, Harvey Cox, Martin Luther King Jr., Thoreau, et al. Two semester hours if taken for Co-seminar credit. Three semester hours if taken as a Social Science elective or Interdisciplinary elective. Offered As Needed

 

Travel Study Courses

 

299     Lower Division Travel Study (3)

 

499     Upper Division Travel Study (3)