Courses

This course provides a survey of economic principles within both microeconomics and macroeconomics. It introduces students to the basic economic concepts that are fundamental to understanding economic observations in daily life, such as supply, demand, price, market equilibrium, national income, unemployment, inflation, economic growth, international trade, and so on. Through discussions of contemporary economic issues and policies, students will learn how households and firms make decisions under certain economic systems, how individual markets and the national and international economy operate, and how government policies affect economic outcomes.

This course looks at the central questions that Eastern and Western cultures have posed about what makes for a meaningful and successful life.  These questions include personal and group identities, notions of community, interactions with nature, and transcendence.  The course is offered in a seminar format that requires active participation and reading of primary texts.

Introduction to the basic structure and function of modern French, covering the sound system, grammatical structures, basic vocabulary/expressions, and writing. Important cultural aspects of the language are also discussed.

Introduction to the basic structure and function of the modern Chinese language, covering the basic sound system, grammatical constructions, writing system, and basic vocabulary and expressions. Important cultural aspects of the language are discussed as well.

Continuing development of the fundamental aspects of modern French as in FRN 101, with more emphasis on vocabulary/ expressions and grammatical structures.

Continuing development of the fundamental aspects of the modern Chinese language as in CHI 101, with additional vocabulary/expressions and analysis of grammatical constructions.

This course provides students with an introduction to geographic concepts and perspectives from both physical and human geography while exploring the five major regions along the Pacific Rim: North America, Central and South America, Australia and Oceania, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Topics covered include the physical environment, environmental issues, human patterns over time, economic and political issues, and sociocultural issues.

Chemistry asks what is matter made of and how does it interact? A basic understanding of chemistry is a prerequisite for good citizenship in our changing and technological society. This course introduces modern chemical concepts and processes in the context of their impact on health, the environment, and technology. Through inquiry-based learning, you will develop critical thinking skills and data-driven decision making toward the understanding of matter. This course has a moderate laboratory component and is appropriate for students not intending to continue in fields requiring foundational chemistry knowledge. Not open to students who are enrolled in or who have taken and passed CHEM 150 with at least a grade of C- or P.

Just twenty chemical elements are essential for human nutrition. We will focus on the atomic composition and structure of these elements; consider how some of these elements combine to make larger compounds and macronutrients (molecular structure and bonding); explore how their structures affect their solubility and acidity/basicity and examine the reactions (oxidation and hydrolysis) that micro- and macro-nutrients undergo to producing energy for the human body. Team-based learning and laboratory exercises will emphasize critical thinking and real-world applications of chemistry to nutrition. This course is appropriate for students not intending to continue in fields requiring foundational chemistry. Not open to students who are enrolled in or who have taken and passed CHEM 150 with at least a grade of C- or P.

Beginning with the early civilizations of Southwest Asia and North Africa this course traces the rise of complex, stratified societies, including organized religions, political systems of thought and practice, and the various historical phases of Mediterranean society from the Greeks through the Renaissance.

This course introduces students to the formative influences and developments that have shaped the modern Western world. It examines processes of state formation, scientific and technological change, political and religious upheaval, capitalist development, and territorial expansion as elements in the modernization of the West. The course explores the history of the West as a diverse congeries of peoples, ideas, and movements.

What is color? Is color an intrinsic property of an object? Why is that your black screen turns colorful when it is on? In this course, we will investigate intriguing questions about colors through the lens of chemistry and physics. Using project-based and inquiry-based approaches, different mechanisms of having a color will be introduced, discussed, and analyzed, such as absorption, reflection, and emission. The mechanisms can then be used to explain and predict a wide range of color phenomena, such as green leaves, blue skies, red paints, orange carrots, and all the colors of the screen you are looking at. At the end of the semester, students will participate in collaborative projects to learn the science of color by doing it.

This course is a survey of East Asian history from the earliest time to the present. The course is restricted to those aspects of East Asian history that enable us to understand the complexities and diversities in the historical experience of three East Asian countries: China, Japan, and Korea. This course concentrates on how three East Asian societies have achieved their own economic, political, social, and cultural developments, sometimes by way of mutual inspiration, influence or actual interaction with each other, and, later, with a broader world.

This course examines how people from around the world have continued to embody virtue, contribute to the social good, interact with nature, and explore the meaning of life.  Although texts provide some sense of the development of these themes historically in the East and West, the course focuses on contemporary perspectives.

Aims at further developing students’ French language proficiency in the six aspects of listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and cultural understanding.

Aims at further developing students’ Chinese language proficiency in the six aspects of listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and cultural understanding.

This class introduces students to the most important ecological concepts and key questions across levels: global, ecosystem, community, population, and individual/physiological -- including interactions between species and the environment, adaptation and evolution, life history strategies/population growth, ecosystem approaches, and global-scale patterns, problems, and solutions. 

Continuation of FRN 201, while further enhancing students’ proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and cultural understanding. Relevant linguistic, sociolinguistic, and cultural information to prepare students for Study Abroad programs is included.

Continuation of CHI 201 while further enhancing students’ proficiency level in listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and cultural understanding. Necessary linguistic, cultural, and sociolinguistic orientation for Study Abroad studies is included.

This class introduces students to interdisciplinary concepts in sustainable aquaculture. Aquaculture is the practice of farming aquatic species including kelp, seaweed, mussels, clams, oysters, shrimp, and fishes. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the people/culture, animal/plant biology, economics, methods, and challenges for aquaculture with a focus on sustainability by growing species from different levels of the food chain together.

This course will examine embedded views of the relationship between humans and their environments in the context and function of music in different times and cultures. Music is both commonly a means of the most profound communication between humans and nature, and embodies cultural understanding and expression of the relationship, humans place in nature. Readings will include examination of music cultures, the expressed views and philosophies of the people in those music cultures, and studies of the ecological systems and ecological impacts of human actions where those people live.

This course is a historical survey of East Asian-American relations from around 1800 to the present, with special emphasis on the origins and changes of American thinking about three East Asian countries: China, Japan, and Korea. It also examines American interests in East Asia.

From Heraclitus on, the concept of nature has proven to be unique in its ability to expand imagination, stimulate thought, and articulate disagreement. This class will place major texts in the traditions of natural philosophy, pastoral, and cultural critique alongside contemporary interventions, including arguments for the ecology without nature. Our goal is to rethink nature in response to the technological mastery of all life made possible by the advancement of science. The texts to be studied include Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, Lucretius, Virgil, Rousseau, Diderot, Thoreau, Darwin, Dennett and Will Self. 

Almost 60% of the more than 8 billion people worldwide live in towns or cities. Urban societies need to find ways to reduce their negative environmental impacts on the Earth’s eco-systems. This course focuses on the analysis of urban development patterns in industrialized and post-industrial countries. Students will learn how to create and plan for human settlements that are less carbon-intensive, more ecologically responsible, and more socially sound. Via a variety of case studies, students will be introduced to sustainability concepts such as ecological urbanism, urban regeneration, smart growth, transit-oriented development and suburban retrofitting.

This course is a survey of modern China from around 1600 to the present. The course helps students to understand the origins, processes, and outcomes of the revolution in 20th century China. The course analyzes the complex and contradictory process of revolution, including the Communist Revolution and the many other revolutions that have transformed Chinese society and politics.

This course examines the emergence of the Third World in modern history, the response to and reformulation of the question of modernity among Third World peoples and intellectuals, and the formation of modern global relation, beginning around 1450 to the present, in which Euro-Americans played a central part. This course also explores recent changes in the status and the meaning of the Third World and lays out numerous historical problems that still remain in this increasingly globalizing and interactive world.

This introductory course asks students to evaluate the centrality of slavery to the history of the United States. We examine how the enslavement of Africans and the conquest of the continent affected the development of capitalism, governments, and cultures in the US. Developing these themes entails comparisons across places and time periods. The course identifies a nascent global system, comparing the US with selected locations in South America, West Africa, and the Caribbean. Students make comparisons of the past and the present, seeking to understand how the era of slavery constructed race formations and other legacies for the contemporary world. Throughout, students gain an introductory narrative of American economic and political history and acquire an introduction to empirical methods, critical theory, and current scholarship. Cross-listed as SBS 242.

This course examines the role of cultural institutions and ideas in the forming of the American mind from 1865 to the end of the twentieth century. It explores the influence of native progressive traditions as well as European social thought on modern American thinkers from across the political spectrum. Readings from W.E.B. DuBois, Jane Addams, Henry George, John Dewey, Randolph Bourne, Lewis Mumford, Lionel Trilling, Ayn Rand, Richard M. Weaver, Richard Rorty, William F. Buckley, and others.

Physical Geography is the science of the physical environment on Earth. This includes fundamental principles, processes, and perspectives from three major subject areas: (1) atmosphere and weather, (2) biogeography, and (3) geology and landforms. In this field- and laboratory based course, students will gain knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of our planet.

This course examines policies for the management of hazards, emergencies, and disasters at the national and international levels, with a focus on the interaction of social and natural forces in disaster management.  This course covers emergency management principles and case studies of major disasters that provide insight into the professional challenges of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

This course provides a survey of China’s economic development under the centrally planned socialist system since 1949, and the on-going economic reform since 1978. China’s role in regional economic growth and its economic relationship with the world economy are also be addressed.

This course traces Ecocinema as an evolving field of environmental activism at a time when the threat of anthropocentric climate change has captured our global environmental consciousness. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Film, Ecocinema originated in the mid 1990s and “explores the historical, formal, political, and ethical aspects of the relationship between cinema, the natural world, and nonhuman animals.” How have wildlife and nature documentaries changed over time? How are documentaries different from fiction films or animated films in conveying environmental content? In this introductory-level course, students will be exposed to a multitude of environmental topics via engaging filmic content while also learning to critically analyze filmmakers’ intentions and to identify different filmmaking techniques and styles.

Although humans can obtain the air and (to a lesser extent) the water they need freely, we must work to provide our bodies with food. Before the industrial era, hunting, gathering, and farming were the primary human activities. Technology and industrialization have greatly reduced the human labor required to produce food, and farming has become the specialized occupation of the few. However, in the process, modern industrialized agriculture has developed into a system with many impacts, such as water pollution, greenhouse gas production, and the health consequences of highly processed diets. These impacts of industrialized agriculture are unsustainable as population increases, water resources become scarce, and global warming makes the intensive use of fossil fuels undesirable. In this course, we will examine what a more sustainable mode of food production might look like through class work as well as hands-on work in the Soka Instructional Garden.

Anthropogenic climate change, increasing planetary destruction and the consequences for distributive justice for future generations have been defined as the most crucial problems of the 21st century. 60% of the world's population live in cities that are impacted. How can students become aware of the knowledge of their agency in addressing these issues? How can SUA students develop knowledge and pragmatic application toward positively affecting the outcome of these issues. This is a seminal course in the pro-active, ethical relationships of human beings to the universe. It amplifies the SUA principle of 'the creative co-existence of nature and humanity'. It analyzes the concept of how we relate to the natural environmental is a foundational, philosophical, moral issue. Career minded students can choose from many M.A. and Ph.D. programs in environmental ethics. The uniqueness of SUA's course is that it examines the ethical dimensions of human relationships to the natural world, cities and the cosmopolitan world from a variety of multi-cultural perspectives including East, West and South, Anthropocentrism, Humanism, Aristotelianism, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Transcendentalism, Indigenous perspectives, Marxism and Deep Ecology. Ethical topics discussed include the relationship between Normative Ethics and Environmental ethics, Ethical Reasoning, Ethical Issues, Urban Issues, Human nature, Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Public Health Ethics, Animal Rights, Reverence for Life, and the Ethical Relevance of Corporate Practices to Sentient and Non-Sentient Nature. The guiding thread of the course is human responsibility for being the caretaker of the universe.

This course examines the modern theories of the market system, demand and production, and the interactions between consumers and firms under various market conditions. Students learn how market forces determine prices, resource allocation, and income distribution. Students are also introduced to public policy evaluation and welfare economics.

This course introduces the factors that determine national income, employment, unemployment, inflation, and economic growth. The course also examines the tools of monetary and fiscal policy available to policy makers and the effects of policy on the economy.

This course is primarily geared for students who have completed CHI 202 and are preparing to study abroad in the following semester. Emphasis is on strengthening speaking skills, while promoting integration of those skills with listening, reading, and writing for a more effective study abroad outcome.

This course is designed for students who are preparing to study abroad. It will enhance students’ oral fluency and comprehension in French while at the same time increase their own intercultural awareness. The target language of their study abroad, French, is used as a vehicle to promote and challenge students’ awareness of key concepts related to sociolinguistic and interculturality (e.g., essentialism, stereotyping, otherising). Each student will be invited to reflect on different types of intercultural encounters and how these encounters shaped or will shape them: real ones (from students’ own experiences meeting new people), mediated (through videos, narratives, readings), and improvised (through roles plays and improvisations).

In this course, students are introduced to the analysis of financial assets and institutions. The course emphasizes modern asset pricing theory and the role of financial intermediaries, and their regulation in the financial system. Topics covered include net present value calculations, asset pricing theories, financial derivatives, the efficient market theory, the term structure of interest rates, and banking.

This course is geared towards students returning from a study abroad program in a Chinese-speaking area. Emphasis is on listening and speaking while all four language skills will be further improved through discussing serious as well as fun topics in a more sophisticated manner. This course will help students use these skills in real-life situations such as jobs, international volunteer opportunities, and graduate programs immediately after their graduation from SUA.

This course is a one-semester advanced language course primarily designed to further develop listening and speaking skills and to increase writing ability, with particular attention to advanced syntax and to vocabulary expansion. Class will be conducted entirely in French.

Designed to bring students to an advanced level of proficiency in grammar and composition, the course puts the emphasis on experiencing and producing the language in context through a multi-media approach. An intensive review of grammar is integrated into the writing practice. A good knowledge of basic French grammar is a prerequisite (French 202 or equivalent is recommended). Conducted entirely in French, the course will study selected grammatical difficulties of the French verbal and nominal systems including colloquial usage. It will also guide the students through the different rhetorical modes of writing in French. Class will be conducted entirely in French.

This course is designed for students who have a strong foundation in Chinese and seek to enhance their proficiency in both reading and writing. Advanced vocabulary, grammar structures, and formal writings will be emphasized and practiced. Students will engage with authentic Chinese texts, including literary works, essays, and contemporary media, while improving their skill to write coherently and convincingly in Chinese.

This course introduces classical Chinese poem and text to students. In writing Chinese, writers often quote classical Chinese poems and texts, which are more difficult than vernacular Chinese. This course helps students expand their knowledge and skills in reading and writing Chinese to a deeper and more culturally oriented level. Students can apply what they have acquired from this course to the more sophisticated writing in all fields such as literature, history, political sciences, economics and sociology, etc.

This course covers the fundamentals of environmental planning and practice, including water supply, air quality, waste treatment, recycling, the protection of farmland, open spaces, wetlands and sensitive coastal habitats as well as best practices in transportation, energy, urban planning and design. How does land use planning work? Who plans? Why, when and how are environmental impact assessments and environmental reviews performed and by whom? How do public authorities, planners, developers, and concerned citizens negotiate intricate land use conflicts?

This course is an introduction to the design and implementation of public finance in high-income countries as well as in developing economies. Topics include the role and size of the public sector, rationale for public sector interventions (such as market failure and distributional concerns), issues of tax compliance and enforcement, tax reform, public expenditure policy (such as social protection programs), fiscal balance and deficit financing, fiscal decentralization and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Students will apply these theories in order to critically evaluate current policy issues in areas of education, health care, environment, and welfare reform.

This course investigates the economic performance and development of the economies of Pacific Asia; covering Japan, Asian NIEs (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore), ASEAN-4 (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines), China and Vietnam. Through this class, students will gain factual knowledge on the economic characteristics of and policies on these economies’ structural change, economic growth, and development; and the economic relationship among these economies as well as between this region and the world economy in the era of globalization. The emphasis of this course is on the application of proper economic analytical tools to examine the effectiveness of various development strategies and policies on each economy’s development process. The applicability of the development experiences of these economies to other developing countries will also be briefly discussed.

The struggle to manage water resources has shaped societies in the past and continues to do so today. Human use of water for drinking, sanitation, and agriculture is controlled by natural processes, by engineering, and by the institutions that manage water for the benefit of societies. In this course students will study how these processes control the availability and quality of water. Students will explore water resources in the local area through field visits to both natural and engineered sites and will learn to apply some of the techniques of water resource managers.

This interdisciplinary policy course examines the prevention and management of threats to human health caused by interacting environmental conditions and social forces. Major topics in this course include air and water pollution control, toxic substances control, climate change and environmental health, disease control, pandemics, public health emergency management, and public health leadership. This course covers public and environmental health policies at the community, national, and international levels.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course introduces students to one of the major issues of the world economy: the process of economic development. It provides an understanding of the causes and consequences of underdevelopment and poverty in developing economies and attempts to explore possible means to overcome obstacles to development. Topics covered include: economic growth, sources of growth (capital formation, population and human capital, technology), economic structural change, income distribution, institutional factors, development strategies, government policies, international trade, foreign aid, foreign investment, and debt crisis. 

Between 2000 and 2030, the urban populations of the developing regions in the Global South will double from two to four billion people, accounting for the vast majority of urban growth on this planet. Taking a comparative view of urbanization and development, this course focuses on the many cities in the Global South where millions of urban dwellers lack adequate shelter and access to clean water, sanitation and other basic infrastructure. What are the causes and environmental consequences of rapid urbanization and urban expansion in cities as diverse as Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Lagos, Mumbai or Chongqing? What strategies, programs and policies exist that can steer future urban development in a more environmentally sustainable direction?

This course examines the history and evolution of environmental movements in the U.S. and internationally, showing how U.S. environmentalism evolved from preservation and conservation efforts aimed at ‘saving wilderness’ and ‘restoring nature’ to increasingly include environmental and climate justice struggles led by people of color and indigenous communities. Additional case studies include international movements against oil pipelines and toxic waste dumps in Latin America and Africa, anti-nuclear activism in Germany and Japan, and advocacy for dam-removal in Asia.

This course provides an introduction to international economic concepts and contemporary issues related to international trade and international finance. It illustrates the philosophical foundations and historical context of various theories of trade and finance and their applications to trade policies and trade relations. Other areas examined include balance of payment, determination of exchange rate, foreign investment, multinational enterprises, financial market internationalization, international economic policies, and international economic organizations. Emphasis is on the critical evaluation of and debates on current trade policies and other international economic issues, such as North-South trade relations, free trade vs. protectionism, and international resources movement.

Environmental policies are social actions designed to protect the environment. This course examines the processes and consequences of policies for environmental protection. This course also examines the roles of leadership, laws, and organizations in environmental protection.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a computer system for storing, managing, and displaying (mapping) the locations and attributes of spatial features. These features can come from any discipline and could represent any human or physical information. Due to its versatility, GIS is used in a wide range of applications such as resource management, city planning, transportation, business, and crime hot spot analysis. This course introduces students to this powerful software through lectures in GIScience and computer labs with ArcGIS.

This upper division course combines theory and policy application in studying environmental issues from an economist’s perspective. Major topics include theoretical and applied modeling of economy-environment relations, causes and consequences of market failure affecting environmental services, design and evaluation of environmental policy instruments, and the political economy of environmental policy. Students will learn to identify the economic components of an environmental issue, analyze the effects of human economic activity on the environment, and to present and discuss the pros and cons of various environmental policies.

This upper division course combines theory and policy application in studying environmental issues from an economist’s perspective. Major topics include theoretical and applied modeling of economy-environment relations, causes and consequences of market failure affecting environmental services, design and evaluation of environmental policy instruments, and the political economy of environmental policy. Students will learn to identify the economic components of an environmental issue, analyze the effects of human economic activity on the environment, and to present and discuss the pros and cons of various environmental policies.

Terrestrial plants have been present on this planet for 440 million years and play a critical role as the basis of the terrestrial food chain. This course introduces students to the diversity of plant life and how plants have evolved and adapted to their respective environments. Topics include plant structure and growth, species interaction, community ecology, and succession.

Environmental law plays a critical role in the practice of environmental protection. This course provides a general introduction to environmental laws and legal processes at the national and international levels.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This advanced course provides further instruction in Geographic Information Science and ArcGIS applications. It is geared towards making students more familiar with the geospatial career field through interaction with GIS employers, GIS professionals, and a conference attendance (when possible). Course topics include more in-depth vector and raster data analysis, terrain mapping, viewshed and watershed analysis, spatial interpolation, modeling, and some python programming.

This course focuses on case studies of the development and management of policies for environmental protection. These case studies allow a detailed examination of the practical challenges facing environmental managers and leaders today, and an examination of the possibilities for new approaches to environmental management and policy in the future.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course is designed to provide students with anin-depth understanding of the history of Chinese culture while improving their language skills.Designed for students with a high level of language proficiency, the course delves into key historical periods and cultural developments that have shaped Chinese society. Topics include classical literature, philosophy, art, religion, and social customs. Students will read and analyze original texts and literary works in Chinese while developing advanced reading, writing, and discussion skills.

Designed to examine the historical and cultural development of post-colonial francophone regions. The course surveys major historical events from the beginning of French colonization to the present day. Class will be conducted in French.

The Earth’s climate is changing because human activity is increasing the levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. You will learn what causes climate change, as well as its present and future effects on both the earth and society. You will also learn about the responses society and individuals can make to prevent and adapt to climate change. In the laboratory portion of this class, you will learn how to plan and perform a scientific experiment measuring greenhouse gases.

This is an advanced writing course designed to teach students how to write creatively in French. Students explore different kinds of narrative genres, styles, and rhetoric figures by reading excerpts of famous French authors. Students develop essential tools: critical reading and literary analysis; writing, revising and editing original material; greater appreciation of the interconnectedness between literary thematic content and aesthetics; and a practical understanding of the creative process. Using the tools acquired, students practice various forms of writing, culminating in their final project: writing a short story through collaborative or individual writing.

This course examines the processes and consequences of policies for environmental protection in an international and comparative context. The course focuses on the role of institutional processes, government organizations, and nongovernmental organizations in environmental politics and policy across the world.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course is intended for students interested in the translation process, how that process can both alter and preserve literary works, and how to most effectively and accurately transfer meaning and tone from one language to another. It is designed to introduce students to the basic principles and techniques of translation from English into French and French into English. Presentations and discussions on the theoretical and technical aspects of translation will be complemented by the systematic practice of translation of selected texts in both languages. This course helps students develop and refine mastery of the French language through a detailed study of its specific grammatical, lexical and stylistic aspects.

This advanced course offers an immersive experience in Chinese language learning through the exploration of literature and film. Focusing on 20th and 21st-century works, students will engage with a variety of literary texts, including short stories, novels, poetry, and Chinese films that provide cultural, social, and historical insights. By analyzing these works, students will deepen their understanding of complex linguistic structures, idiomatic expressions, and cultural context. The course emphasizes critical reading, discussion, and interpretation to enhance language proficiency while cultivating a broader appreciation of Chinese storytelling traditions and contemporary cinematic art. This course is ideal for students looking to integrate language learning with cultural and literary studies, enriching theircommand ofthe Chineselanguage through deep engagement with its literature and film.

This course examines the interactions between written texts and their theatrical and/or filmic adaptations. Students expand their experience of literature and cinema, and reinforce their rhetorical skills while learning specific vocabularies pertaining to the literary, theatrical and filmic domains. Students critically and creatively reflect on the respective aesthetic qualities of these media. “Adaptation: Page, Stage and Screen” fulfills an essential interdisciplinary goal. Students: learn fundamental concepts of the written and filmic texts; understand how one discipline can supplement, impact and support another to create new meaning; recognize the complexities and ambiguities occurring when several academic disciplines encounter: what changes in the process of adapting a written play into its scenic version and then into a fiction film.

This course investigates key moments of the 20th and 21st centuries as they are visually and thematically represented in film. The aim of FRN 412 is to foster a greater appreciation for French and Francophone cinemas and a better understanding of the socio-intellectual context within which they developed. Though film analysis includes an examination of critical and theoretical approaches, prior film knowledge is not required. This is a course for students who are interested in the history and culture of the French-Speaking World, and furthering their study of the French language.

Introduction to literary or classical Chinese, focusing on reading comprehension, scholarly translation, and the carryover to the blending of classical and modern prose styles.

This course is a survey of literature from the Middle-Age to the 21st century introducing readings in representative authors, themes and periods from France and from other Francophone countries. Literature will provide a means of entry to the cultural and historical context of the different periods studied. Class will be conducted in French.

This course focuses on the exploration of contemporary issues in China through advanced Chinese language study. Tailored for students with advanced proficiency in Mandarin, the course examines current sociopolitical, economic, and cultural trends that are shaping modern China. Topics include urbanization, gender, environmental challenges, and economic development. Students will engage with a variety of authentic materials, including news articles, podcasts, and interviews. The course emphasizes critical thinking and advanced language skills, encouraging students toarticulate their perspectives on complex issues in both oral and written forms.

This course provides a critical introduction to the interdisciplinary world of urban planning. Many of the world’s most famous cities were carefully laid out in relationship to their natural surroundings. How did they plan access to public infrastructures and social institutions such water, sewer and power lines, roads, schools or hospitals? Which cities are global leaders in urban planning and design? What are the most important issues for planning practitioners right now? What do planners do when they “plan”? How do we justify planning? How do we define the public interest the profession purports to serve? What are the key conflicts and ethical dilemmas? How does the global threat of climate change change the way we plan and manage cities?

Biogeography is the science of the distribution of plants and animals and the patterns and processes responsible for these distributions. This course introduces students to the discipline of biogeography and its major topics such as island biogeography, speciation and extinction, diversification, and conservation from a more geographical perspective emphasizing large scale patterns through space and time. The class consists of lectures and labs in which students explore lab work and science concepts to prepare students for careers in the conservation and ecology fields. Students write three detailed lab reports following scientific writing conventions to practice science writing skills. 

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

Students will learn how to manage, analyze, and visualize environmental science data using real world datasets and understand theory and applications of statistical techniques. Quantitative skills will be developed in Microsoft Excel and R/R studio. 

EDU 501 introduces students to the main themes of the MA program, beginning with a critical inquiry into the dialectical relations of school and society. Through intensive readings and discussion, small-group projects, and reflection papers, the course examines the social forces of change and persistence, the structural constraints, and the opportunities (for innovation and creativity, for example). Students analyze the political and socioeconomic context in which schools, teachers, and administrators operate. They also study the generative results of school reform nationally and cross-nationally.

EDU 502 approaches educational leadership as the facilitation of a complex web of interconnections in which various actors, student and non-student alike, form together with the surrounding society. Students study and analyze aspects of educational leadership through both theories and practices to inform and reflect on a variety of issues and cultures, each with their own unique norms and assumptions, historical evolution, and guiding myths. The course utilizes firsthand accounts of organizational leadership experiences and case studies in an effort to understand education and its connection to broader society from multiple perspectives. Taking place over the Winter Block, this course examines both leadership theory and research methods that are descriptive, field-based, interpretive, and discovery-focused. A two-day long “shadowing” experience with local educational leaders, both school-based and non-school-based, provides real-world practice for experiential learning and investigation.

EDU 503 examines the social, historical, and philosophical foundations of contemporary schooling. The course explores the metaphysical, epistemological, moral, and political problems that educational philosophers have grappled with for centuries in their efforts to answer two questions: (1) What knowledge is most worth having? (2) What is the best way to educate students? Beginning with the classical texts of Socrates and Confucius and concluding with such modern theorists of education as John Dewey, Paulo Freire, Jean Piaget, and the Japanese educator, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the course traces the changing relations of theory and practice, philosophy and rhetoric, speculative thought and applied knowledge in the historical evolution of education worldwide. Systems of thought variously described as positivistic, naturalistic, holistic, historicist, humanist, constructivist, empirical, relativistic, and pragmatic have provided the basis for extensive argument and discussion in the social sciences, humanities, and more recently, education. The course makes a thorough study of these and other ideas in the early development and contemporary expression of the history and philosophy of education.

EDU 504 introduces students to the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological questions and concerns that have animated scholarship and practice in the field of comparative and international education from the early twentieth century beginnings. Students will consider comparisons and borrowing and lending of educational ideas and best practices through historical and contemporary issues from across the world. Seminal questions to be examined: How do ‘global’ forces impact educational development in different settings? What are the transnational concerns surrounding culture and schooling? Who are the key actors and institutions that educate in different systems around the world? Course topics may include the internationalization of higher education, large-scale testing regimes, global mobility, sustainability, and dominant ideologies or cultures that have impacted educational development and outcomes around the world, including reform motivations, meanings, and structures. These seminal questions provide the opportunity to pursue fundamental questions of purpose, theory, method, and various empirical logic in international and cross-national inquiry in educational policy studies.

EDU 505 explores the theory and research of leadership across a variety of cultures, genres, perspectives, and individual cases, where the kind and degree of leadership is essential for achieving educational objectives. As aspiring educational leaders, students consider the most challenging and controversial issues within school systems, familiarize themselves with data-driven best practices in school leadership, and become intelligent consumers of research as it impacts the theory and practice of leadership generally. This course will lay the foundation for future research, giving students hands-on and theoretical experiences to design, manage, and conduct their own projects. Students will build upon their literature review search skills through added understanding of databases, peer review process, predatory publishing, and other bibliometric tools. The class will also cover various research methodologies and approaches, such as participant sampling, case selection, interviewing, observations, field notes, ethics, and coding. Through the course’s technical, theoretical, and practical explorations, academic studies on education and leadership will be demystified and deconstructed in order to foster confidence in student research skills.

EDU 506 examines the theoretical, philosophical, methodological, and conceptual questions and concerns that inform (non)democratic approaches to societal, organizational, and institutional change. Human beings live in a complex world. One that is constantly evolving and exists in multiple dimensions and planes. Understanding the nature, scope, pace, agents, and process through which such changes occur is essential for preserving human flourishing, agency, and security. Edu 506 equips learners with the foundational knowledge to understand, manage, initiate, and shepherd transformational change initiatives. It empowers them to achieve lasting and effective societal change by harnessing education’s power. Students enrolled in this course will encounter the works of writers and public thought-leaders like Saul Alinsky, John Dewey, Paulo Freire, Mikhail Gorbachev, Friedrich Hayek, Daisaku Ikeda, Karl Marx, and Kwame Nkrumah.

EDU 507 introduces a critical and pragmatic examination of leadership through key legal and policy contexts that govern daily and long-range ethical decision-making by educational leaders. The course examines the law and policies that govern educational organizations in relation to the cultural, social, economic, and political standards embodied in state and federal codes, case law, and the policies that educational leaders encounter in their day-to-day work.

Addressing the following seminal questions, the course takes a two-pronged approach of law and the policies it produces framed by the ethical educational leader: Who has a right to influence schools and education? How do policies and laws impact educational institutions? How should we think about school success and opportunity in a global society? What is the pragmatic stance for the ethical school leader with educational policy? Through these questions, the class will see how law and policy development has been undergirded by the relationship between a leader’s values and decision-making.

EDU 508 is a first-year graduate-level survey of quantitative and mixed (qualitative and quantitative) research methods commonly found in educational studies. The general content base of this course is twofold: 1) research planning and design and 2) data analysis and reporting. Through reading published empirical research, as well as class activities and discussion, students will recognize the theoretical, practical, and sociocultural constraints on all parts of educational research, from questions and design to analysis and interpretation. Students gain an understanding of common and differentiating features of typical research designs; ethical, legal, practical, and cross-cultural considerations in research studies in education; planning and integration techniques for mixed methods analysis; descriptive statistics and basic inferential statistics, including measures of central tendency, dispersion, correlations, and group comparisons; the role of validity, reliability, and fairness in design and measurement; and quality indicators in published research.

Students work on their MA Thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor, building on the knowledge base acquired in EDU 502 and 508 to equip students with the research skills they will need to complete their MA Thesis. Work includes considering the relevancy of published research to their own work and discussing the strengths and weaknesses of various analytical methods. Students will have opportunities to share their research progress and receive feedback from their peers and faculty.

Edu 513 is a practice-oriented course for educational leaders for societal change. It introduces learners to program development principles and procedures, current trends and issues, and essential planning skills like needs assessment, context analysis, stakeholder(s) engagement, budget planning, program management, and program evaluation. Students will learn about contemporary program management techniques, analytical models, and software. They will also learn about the reinforcing relationship between program design, objectives, implementation and management, assessment, and organizational policy. Students will study these issues from the perspective of a program manager, who must make decisions and manage program resources to achieve results in an imperfect world. Upon completing the course, learners will be able to design actionable programs based on policy directives, draft comprehensive program documents, assess program quality and effectiveness, and manage, monitor, and evaluate program implementation. They will develop greater awareness of the many unplanned problems that may arise in the development, implementation, and evaluation process. They will also develop a toolkit of materials and philosophical perspectives that will assist them in effectively dealing with the challenges.

EDU 515 explores the psychology of learning with a focus on how theoretical and empirical knowledge about human cognition, emotion, and attitudes can be applied in schools and other educational settings. As an interdisciplinary blend of psychology and education, it necessarily addresses both theoretical and practical issues. As a branch of psychology, it investigates the science of human behavior, especially the behaviors connected to motivation and learning. As education, it emphasizes practice and applied knowledge that inspires positive individual development and social change. Students gain an understanding of key concepts in the areas of human development, learning theory, and motivation; explore applications of concepts in contemporary educational settings through case studies and other activities; and consider contemporary issues in the field from various individual perspectives and cultural contexts.

EDU 517 offers a review of types, purposes, procedures, uses, and limitations of assessment strategies. Students are introduced to emerging trends in assessment, various assessment techniques and models, and how the assessment process is used to evaluate individuals, curricula, and programs. Students consider how to determine appropriate assessment tools for different educational contexts, and how to recognize the implications of these assessment decisions for social justice and social change. Students gain not only the assessment competencies they will need as educational leaders but the communicative skills to convey the results of assessments to their communities, helping build support for schools and for initiatives that educators wish to carry out.

Students continue to work on their MA thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor. By the end of the course, students will have written the introduction, literature review, and methods chapters of the thesis.

Students spend the last semester of the Program preparing and completing their MA Thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Students will present a monthly progress report at a thesis colloquium and receive feedback from peers and faculty. After completing the thesis, they will present their work at a graduate school-organized public event.