2009-2010 University Catalog archived
Course Descriptions
|
|
|
|
| |
Music |
| |
-
MUS 141 - Applied Music: First Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor; seniors must have permission of the department head.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 142 - Applied Music: First Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor; seniors must have permission of the department head.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 143 - Applied Music: First Year
Credits: 1
When Offered: Spring
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor; seniors must have permission of the department head.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 161 - Music Theory I
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 4
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: Music major or permission of the instructor.Study of scales, triads, chord progressions; instruction in harmonic analysis and four-part writing from the 17th and 18th centuries and aural skills.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 162 - Music Theory II
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 4
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: MUS 161.A continuation of MUS 161, including the writing and analysis of musical progressions and the study of chromatic harmony.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 195 - Topics in Sound Technology
Credits: 1
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.An exploration of a specific topic in which students will investigate the tools and techniques of modern sound technology. Audiovisual resources and required field trips may be used to enhance the course material. The class has an emphasis on hands-on learning with the latest recording hardware and software. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Spice.
|
| |
-
MUS 201 - Music History I
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: Music major or permission of the instructor.A survey of music from the Middle Ages through the Classical period.Spice.
|
| |
-
MUS 202 - Music History II
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: Music major or permission of the instructor.A survey of music from the Romantic period to the present.Spice.
|
| |
-
MUS 220 - Music in the United States, 1607-1970
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall 2009 and alternate years
A study of musical styles in America from the time of the first settlers. Topics include Puritan psalms, patriotic music, songs of the Civil War, spirituals, gospel, blues, ragtime, jazz, rock’n’roll, musical comedy, popular song, and various trends in Classical music from the Moravians to the avant-garde. The course will cover major works by Ives, Gershwin, Copland, and Ellington.Gaylard.
|
| |
-
MUS 221 - History of Jazz
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
A study of the development of jazz from its roots in turn-of-the-century New Orleans to contemporary styles. Strong emphasis is placed on listening and recognition of the performers and composers discussed.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 231 - Classical Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall 2010 and alternate years
Stylistic study of music of the last half of the 18th century. Emphasis on the symphonies, sonatas, choral music, chamber music, and operas of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.Gaylard.
|
| |
-
MUS 232 - Romantic Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
Topics in the 19th century, including the symphony, the symphonic poem, program music, piano music, nationalism, song, and opera. Composers such as Beethoven, Berlioz, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, and Mahler will be covered.Gaylard.
|
| |
-
MUS 233 - Introduction to 20th-Century Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
A study and comparison of the various styles and composers of contemporary art music from 1912 to the present. Strong emphasis is placed on listening to and recognition of the compositions that are discussed. Concert attendance is required as an integral component of the course.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 241 - Applied Music: Second Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the Spring Term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 242 - Applied Music: Second Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the Spring Term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 243 - Applied Music: Second Year
Credits: 1
When Offered: Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the Spring Term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 260 - Music Theory III
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 4
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: MUS 162.A continuation of MUS 162, focusing on analysis of harmonies, forms, and styles from the Romantic period, impressionism, and the early 20th century. Includes an aural-skills component.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 295 - Topics in Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
Selected studies in music with a focus on history and culture, non-classical genres, ethnomusicological topics, or performance. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 296 - Spring-Term Topics in Music:
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 4
When Offered: Spring 2010
Selected studies in music with a focus on history and culture, non-classical genres, ethnomusicological topics, or performance. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. In this course students read and develop theories of how music adds meaning and power to a film. We explore the roots of the connection between the flow of music and a dramatic text/narrative as well as how music can enhance visual images. Gaylard, T.
|
| |
-
MUS 331 - Renaissance Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.A study of trends in musical style of the 15th and 16th centuries. The course traces the development of the mass, motet, chanson, madrigal, and instrumental forms. Other topics include the effects of courtly life, musical printing, the Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation upon the role of music in Renaissance society.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 332 - Baroque Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.Stylistic study of music from 1600 through 1750, Monteverdi through Bach and Handel. The instrumental and vocal compositions of various European locales and composers are examined chronologically.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 341 - Applied Music: Third Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 342 - Applied Music: Third Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 343 - Applied Music: Third Year
Credits: 1
When Offered: Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 361 - Advanced Composition I
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: MUS 260.This course is the first step in the preparation for the senior composition recital. Original compositions are created and then performed during applied music recitals. Individual instruction is combined with a weekly seminar.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 362 - Advanced Composition II
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: MUS 361.A continuation of MUS 361.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 374 - Supervised Study in Europe
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 6
When Offered: Not offered in Spring 2010
Prerequisite: MUS 120 or permission of the instructor.A seminar in the music and culture of selected European musical centers.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 375 - Supervised Study Abroad: The Sacred and Secular Music of Israel
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 6
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and approval of the International Education Committee.During this course, which takes place throughout Israel, students have the opportunity to examine firsthand the diverse musical tapestry of Israel through library and field research.Kolman.
|
| |
-
MUS 395 - Seminar for Music Majors: Approaches to Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisites: MUS 120, at least junior standing, and major in music.An exploration of a specific musical topic around which music majors utilize and develop techniques in finding and evaluating research resources (in both print and electronic form), as well as applying the tools of detailed analysis. Assignments include those that require writing and presentation skills in preparation for work on a thesis.Gaylard.
|
| |
-
MUS 396 - Seminar: Literature and Style of Vocal or Instrumental Music
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2010
Prerequisite: MUS 120 or permission of the instructor.A specific topic in a vocal or instrumental genre or on a specific composer or performer. Students are required to develop analytical skills in listening and score reading, as well as research skills in locating sources. Assignments include short written papers, regular quizzes, and class presentations. Audiovisual resources and required field trips to concerts may be used to enhance the course material. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Spice.
|
| |
-
MUS 397 - Seminar: Topics in Composition- Related Techniques
FDR: HA, GE4a
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2010
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.Topics change from year to year and include such items as analysis, orchestration, and electronic music. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Vosbein.
|
| |
-
MUS 423 - Directed Individual Project
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisites: Music major and permission of the instructor.May be repeated for degree credit with permission.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 441 - Applied Music: Fourth Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor; seniors must have permission of the department head.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 442 - Applied Music: Fourth Year
Credits: 1-2
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor; seniors must have permission of the department head.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 443 - Applied Music: Fourth Year
Credits: 1
When Offered: Spring
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor; seniors must have permission of the department head.One credit is earned for a 45-minute private lesson and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; a one-hour private lesson and a minimum of seven hours of practice a week are required during the spring term.Staff.
Note: Note: A limit of nine credits for nonmajors and 12 credits for majors in applied music courses (140s, 240s, 340s, 440s) is allowable toward a degree. Available in brass, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A fee is charged for applied music. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. Special departmental permission is required for students wanting two-credit applied music courses.
|
| |
-
MUS 451 - Internship
Credits: 1
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: At least 12 credits in music appropriate to the internship.After consultation with the head of the Department of Music and a representative of the sponsoring organization, students may submit a written description of a proposed summer internship with an organization such as an arts presenter, a performance group, a record company, or an opera company. Specific conditions of the internship and of required on-campus, follow-up projects must be approved by the department in advance. Students register for the internship credit(s) during fall registration, and the credit is awarded at the end of the fall term upon acceptable completion of the required, on-campus follow-up project, reviewed by a faculty adviser and the department head.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 452 - Internship
Credits: 2
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: At least 12 credits in music appropriate to the internship.After consultation with the head of the Department of Music and a representative of the sponsoring organization, students may submit a written description of a proposed summer internship with an organization such as an arts presenter, a performance group, a record company, or an opera company. Specific conditions of the internship and of required on-campus, follow-up projects must be approved by the department in advance. Students register for the internship credit(s) during fall registration, and the credit is awarded at the end of the fall term upon acceptable completion of the required, on-campus follow-up project, reviewed by a faculty adviser and the department head.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 453 - Internship
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
Prerequisite: At least 12 credits in music appropriate to the internship.After consultation with the head of the Department of Music and a representative of the sponsoring organization, students may submit a written description of a proposed summer internship with an organization such as an arts presenter, a performance group, a record company, or an opera company. Specific conditions of the internship and of required on-campus, follow-up projects must be approved by the department in advance. Students register for the internship credit(s) during fall registration, and the credit is awarded at the end of the fall term upon acceptable completion of the required, on-campus follow-up project, reviewed by a faculty adviser and the department head.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 473 - Senior Thesis
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisites: Music major and permission of the instructor.For theory composition students, this culminates with a half-recital of original compositions or an analytical thesis. For history students, this culminates with the writing of a thesis. For performance students, this culminates with a formal half-recital.Staff.
|
| |
-
MUS 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
When Offered: Fall-Winter
Prerequisites: Honors candidacy and senior standing.A summary of prerequisites and requirements may be obtained from the department head.Staff.
|
Neuroscience |
| |
-
NEUR 120 - Introduction to Neuroscience
FDR: SC
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An introduction to neuroscience emphasizing the molecular organization, chemistry, and physiology of the neuron; how neurons are organized into functional circuits; and how these functional circuits process information and control both normal and abnormal behavior.Stewart.
|
| |
-
NEUR 395 - Special Topics in Neuroscience
Credits: 1,2, or 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisites: NEUR 120 and junior standing.A seminar designed to provide the advanced student with a broader knowledge of the field of neuroscience. Specific topics will vary and will be determined, in part, by student interest. May be repeated for credit with permission and if the topics are different.
Topic for Fall, 2009:
NEUR 395 (PSYC 395): Psychophysiology of Pain and Stress (3). Prerequisites: PSYC 111 and 250 or NEUR 120. The sense of pain is crucially important to survival, since it allows the organism to escape from potentially harmful stimuli and promotes avoidance of them in the future. This course examines: the physiology of pain and the relationship between stress and pain; pain plasticity and chronic pain conditions; and examples of group differences (sex, race, culture, etc.) in pain sensitivity and their hypothesized psychophysiological bases. Mechlin
|
| |
-
NEUR 401 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 1
When Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the neuroscience faculty.This seminar involves independent reading and/or research. Students are expected to prepare a detailed research proposal based on their independent work. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 402 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 2
When Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the neuroscience faculty.This seminar involves independent reading and/or research. Students are expected to prepare a detailed research proposal based on their independent work. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the neuroscience faculty.This seminar involves independent reading and/or research. Students are expected to prepare a detailed research proposal based on their independent work. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 422 - Directed Individual Research
Credits: 2
When Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the neuroscience faculty.Each student conducts primary research in partnership with a neuroscience faculty member by prior mutual agreement.Consult with individual faculty for a description of current research areas. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. No more than six credits may apply towards the major.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 423 - Directed Individual Research
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the neuroscience faculty.Each student conducts primary research in partnership with a neuroscience faculty member by prior mutual agreement.Consult with individual faculty for a description of current research areas. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. No more than six credits may apply towards the major.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 424 - Directed Individual Research
Credits: 4
When Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the neuroscience faculty.Each student conducts primary research in partnership with a neuroscience faculty member by prior mutual agreement.Consult with individual faculty for a description of current research areas. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. No more than six credits may apply towards the major.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 442 - Honors Thesis Proposal
Credits: 2
When Offered: Offered in fall or winter when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
Prerequisite: Honors candidacy.Writing a proposal for honors thesis research, including a clear statement of the problem being studied, a literature review, and a feasible, detailed plan for the research. Taken no later than the winter term of the junior year.Staff.
|
| |
-
NEUR 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
When Offered: Fall-Winter
Prerequisites: Senior standing and honors candidacy.Individual conference.Staff.
|
Philosophy |
| |
-
PHIL 101 - Problems of Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Open to first-year students and sophomores only.An introduction to some of the major ethical, political, and social problems we persistently confront. Selected readings from major philosophers.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 102 - Problems of Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Open to first-year and sophomores only. PHIL 101 is not a prerequisite for this course.An introduction to some of the major problems that arise in inquiry into the nature of knowledge and reality. Selected readings from major philosophers.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 106 - Introduction to Logic
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
The study of argumentation and modern formal logic. This course explores the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning. Students learn to symbolize and evaluate natural language arguments. Topics covered include the study of formal and informal fallacies, propositional and predicate logic, scientific induction, and probabilities.Goldberg, Gregory, Jackson.
|
| |
-
PHIL 108 - Ethics and the Environment
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
This course is a philosophical exploration of one’s responsibilities to the natural world. It has three main objectives: first, to provide an understanding of different dominant ethical theories and their application to animals, plants, and ecosystems; second, to provide an understanding of major environmental issues in current political debates, such as climate change, species preservation, and sustainable development; and third, to facilitate the development of a student’s own ethic towards the environment.Lowney.
|
| |
-
PHIL 141 - Ancient Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
An examination of the metaphysics of the pre-Socratic philosophers, especially the Milesians, Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, and the Atomists, and the ethics and political philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Topics include the origin and nature of the kosmos, the nature and existence of the god(s), the trial and execution of Socrates, theories of virtue, the nature of knowledge and truth, justice and the ideal state, the nature of eudaimonia (happiness, flourishing), and the possibility of akrasia (weakness of the will).Mahon.
|
| |
-
PHIL 142 - Modern Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An examination of the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion in the rationalist philosophers Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, and Gottfried Willhelm von Leibniz, and the empiricist philosophers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. Topics include skepticism about the external world, mind-body dualism, the existence and nature of God, theories of substance, free will and determinism, personal identity, and causation.Mahon, Goldberg.
|
| |
-
PHIL 144 - 20th-Century Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
An examination of philosophical issues in recent Western thought, from logical atomism to deconstructionism: Husserl, Russell, Heidegger, Dewey, Wittgenstein, Quine, and others.Sessions.
|
| |
-
PHIL 168 - Chinese Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
An introductory course focusing on classical (Zhou period) Confucian and Taoist philosophers. No background in Chinese studies is presupposed.Sessions.
|
| |
-
PHIL 180 - FS: First-year Seminar
Credits: 3
When Offered: Each first-year seminar topic is approved by the Dean of The College and The Committee on Courses and Degrees. Applicability to FDRs and other requirements varies.
Prerequisite: First-year standing.Offered Fall, 2009:
PHIL 180: FS: The Concept of Honor (3). What is honor? It lies at the heart of Washington and Lee’s values, yet its hold on the wider American society is tenuous, and its meaning is unclear to many, not least to students struggling to comprehend a revered honor system. This course seeks to explore the concept of personal honor in historical, literary, and philosophical texts. We examine some key moments in this concept’s development from ancient Greece to our own times, exploring a variety of philosophical perplexities along the way. We read literary texts such as the Iliad, Gawain and the Green Knight, and To Kill a Mockingbird, some biography (Robert E. Lee) and autobiography (Frederick Douglass), and a philosophical manuscript entitled “Honor for Us”, and view a variety of films (such as The Good Shepherd, Troy, The Last Samurai, Glory)–each of which casts different light on honor. We also explore honor’s reach in our contemporary society, from the military to sports, from politics to religion. At the end of the course, we focus on Washington and Lee’s own honor system, in order to clarify and deepen our own sense of local personal honor. Students participate in seminar discussion on the texts and films and the issues they raise. The course’s central philosophical question is this: how can honor, born and reared in hierarchical, patriarchal, warrior societies, live or even thrive in a more egalitarian and peaceful home, such as Washington and Lee in the 21st century? (HU) Sessions
|
| |
-
PHIL 195 - Seminar for First-Years and Sophomores
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter, Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 205 - Philosophy of Language
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
A survey of central topics in the field, including some or all of the following: reference, meaning, truth, analyticity, speech acts, pragmatics, verificationism, indeterminacy, innateness, metaphor, and development of language in the species and in the individual.Gregory.
|
| |
-
PHIL 206 - Problems in Logic
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
Prerequisite: PHIL 106 or permission of the instructor.An inquiry into formal logic and philosophical issues related to logic. The course includes a study of truth and meaning, vagueness, the revisability of logic, and Gödel’s theorem. It also extends propositional and predicate logic to include topics such as the logic of identity, fuzzy logic, many valued logic, mereology, and modal logic.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 207 - Aesthetics
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Spring
A consideration of the basic issues in philosophy of art. Selected viewings and readings from contemporary sources.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 208 - Philosophy of History
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall 2009 and alternate years
Who makes history, individual human beings, social or economic classes, or broad and deep circumstances, such as climate, disease, currency exchange rates, or the collective psyche? How are explanations of historical events different from explanations in physics, biology, psychology, or economics? How is our understanding of historical events influenced by ethical, aesthetic, or ideological considerations? Is history just one thing happening after another, or is there a discernable pattern or meaning in it? What role do theories play in our understanding of history? What do historians and artists have in common? What does history tell us about ourselves? Readings include works by Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Arendt, and contemporary authors.Lambert.
|
| |
-
PHIL 212 - Philosophy and Religion
(REL 212)FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
An exploration of selected issues, such as mystical and numinous experiences and doctrines, theistic arguments, faith and reason, religion and morality, and science and religion.Sessions.
|
| |
-
PHIL 215 - Social Inequality and Fair Opportunity
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An exploration of the different range of opportunities available to various social groups, including racial, ethnic and sexual minorities, women, and the poor. Topics include how to define fair equality of opportunity; the social mechanisms that play a role in expanding and limiting opportunity; legal and group-initiated strategies aimed at effecting fair equality of opportunity and the theoretical foundations of these strategies; as well as an analysis of the concepts of equality, merit and citizenship, and their value to individuals and society.Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 216 - Feminist Social and Political Philosophy
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall 2010 and alternate years
This course critically examines the gender norms that pervade our identities, govern our everyday behavior, and organize our social life. Questions addressed may include: What is gender? In what ways does it affect the quality of women’s and men’s lives? Is gender difference natural? Is it valuable? Can it contribute to, or interfere with, human flourishing? Can a gendered society be just? What can any of us do to promote good relations among women and men?Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 219 - Philosophy of Sex
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
This course explores questions related to contemporary conceptions of sexuality and its proper role in our lives. Questions addressed include: What is the purpose of sex? Are sexual practices subject to normative evaluation on grounds of morality, aesthetics, and/or capacity to promote a flourishing human life? We consider the relation between sex and both intimacy and pleasure, viewed from the perspective of heterosexual women and men, and gay men and lesbians. What are our sexual practices and attitudes toward sex? What should they be like?Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 221 - Plato
(CLAS 221)FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
A close study of one or several dialogues.Smith.
|
| |
-
PHIL 222 - Aristotle
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
A study of Aristotle’s comprehensive philosophy of man and nature, including his logic, physics, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and aesthetics.Sessions.
|
| |
-
PHIL 251 - Existentialism
FDR: HU, GE4C
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
Overview of existential thought in the 19th and 20th centuries. The course presents core existentialist thinkers and their critics-e.g. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Heidegger, Camus?and explores important existential themes such as human experience, anxiety, freedom, authenticity, and absurdity.Verhage.
|
| |
-
PHIL 255 - Philosophy of Science
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
Discussion of philosophical issues raised by the natural sciences. Topics include the nature of scientific theories, evidence, and explanation, the demarcation of science from non-science, scientific revolutions, the unity of science, and scientific realism.Gregory.
|
| |
-
PHIL 256 - Philosophy and Literature
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
Great literature is often profoundly philosophical and great philosophy sometimes takes the form of powerful fiction. This course considers the many philosophical themes in the writings of 19th- and 20th-century authors, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Chinua Achabe, Toni Morrison, Jorge Luis Borges, and Robert Musil.Verhage.
|
| |
-
PHIL 257 - Philosophy of Biology
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
An examination of philosophical issues raised by biology, with an emphasis on current evolutionary theory. Topics include the structure of the theory of evolution by natural selection, an examination of the concepts of fitness and adaptation, the role of teleological explanation in biology, reductionism, the nature of biological species, individuality, levels of selection, and sociobiology.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 258 - Philosophy of Law
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An examination of topics in the philosophy of law, such as the concepts of a law and of a legal system; Natural Law theory; legal positivist and legal realist theories of law; the nature of the relationship between law, morality, and religion; civil disobedience; rights in the U.S. Constitution; freedom of speech and pornography; abortion and the right to privacy; punishment and the death penalty; and different forms of legal liability. Readings include United States Supreme Court opinions.Bell, Mahon, Jackson.
|
| |
-
PHIL 259 - Philosophy of the Family
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter 2009 and alternate years
This course considers philosophical issues raised by family as a social institution and as a legal institution. Topics addressed include the social and personal purposes served by the institution of family, the nature of relationships between family members, the various forms that family can take, the scope of family privacy or autonomy, and how family obligations, mutual support, and interdependency affect individual members of families.Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 260 - Philosophy of Nature
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
An examination of various understandings of nature and the natural from the ancient Greeks to the present. The course includes exploration of basic philosophical issues regarding the concepts “nature,” “wild,” and “wilderness.” The focus is on the relationship between landscapes and conceptualizations of time, self, and community.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 263 - Kierkegaard
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
What does it mean to exist as an authentic human being? This course explores diverse inquiries into this question by one of the 19th century’s most challenging thinkers. We read from a variety of famous pseudonymous writings (including parts of Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, Philosophical Fragments, The Sickness Unto Death), as well as some lesser-known works under his own name (Upbuilding Discourses, Works of Love). In doing so, we not only follow Kierkegaard’s literary and philosophical genius for displaying the intricacies and depths of aesthetic, ethical, and religious ways of living a human life, but we also deepen our own reflections on these matters – and perhaps strengthen our grasp on authentic living as well.Sessions.
|
| |
-
PHIL 265 - Nietzsche
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An examination of Nietzsche’s central philosophical conceptions-revaluation of values, genealogy of morality, self-overcoming, eternal recurrence-through selected readings from various periods in Nietzsche’s authorship.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 269 - Contemporary Ethics
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An examination of different metaethical theories, including ethical realism, emotivism, error theory, and constructivism, and different normative ethical theories, including utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, virtue ethics, and the ethics of care, followed by an application of these normative theories to a selection of ethical problems, including famine and world hunger, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, cloning, suicide, and self-defense. Philosophers include G.E. Moore, W.D. Ross, A.J. Ayer, J.L. Mackie, Bernard Williams, Susan Wolf, Peter Singer, Michael Tooley, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Shelly Kagan.Mahon.
|
| |
-
PHIL 275 - The Unruly Body: Philosophy, Science, and Culture
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 4
When Offered: Spring, 2010
In this course students study theories of embodiment. Beginning with the history of philosophy, we consider how the body gets to be subordinated to a mind; how it is considered mere matter, a building block that is unpredictable and passionate and needs to be controlled or shaped by the mind or the soul (e.g., Aristotelian biology). Continuing with an examination of how in science the body is depicted, shaped and, at times, reconstructed, the course then moves to social-cultural structures, including bodily containment and construction and, with Foucault, execution of power and punishment. Lastly, we consider how we can rethink, relive, regard, refigure, restore and respect our bodies and the bodies of others in more productive and thought-provoking ways.Verhage.
|
| |
-
PHIL 280 - Philosophies of Life
FDR: HU, GE4c.
Credits: 4
When Offered: Spring 2010 and alternate years
Prerequisite: One W&L course in philosophy, one course taught by a W&L philosophy faculty member, or permission of the instructor.This course provides opportunities to explore philosophies of life held by influential philosophers and by ordinary people, focusing on what it means to live a good or worthwhile life. It also gives students a chance to clarify and develop their own vision of what a good life is for them. Projects include conducting interviews with members of the community outside the classroom.Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 295 - Seminar on Philosophical Topics
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.
Topic for Winter, 2010:
PHIL 295: Metaethics (3). Recommended for students who have already taken at least one course in philosophy. Do moral judgments express truths that are independent of our feelings and conventions? Are “goodness” and “wrongness” real properties of things, or do we simply use these terms to express our subjective preferences toward states of affairs? Can we reason about morality? Do moral considerations provide practical reasons for all rational agents, or does the normative force of these considerations depend upon an agent¹s subjective desires? We read articles and parts of books, mainly by contemporary philosophers, in which these questions are analyzed and systematic arguments are offered for particular answers to them. (HU, GE4c) Smith.
Topics for Fall, 2009:
PHIL 295A: John Stuart Mill (3). A study of the life and ideas of a 19th-century philosopher ahead of his time. The class consider such questions as : Are liberty and individuality absolutely crucial to human happiness? Are we morally obligated to conduct our lives in ways that maximize the greatest aggregate happiness? Should women and men have equal rights and opportunities? How can we combine the benefits of capitalism (higher productivity and innovation) with the benefits of socialism (avoiding poverty and exploitation)? Is it more important to fill your head with knowledge or your heart with love? (HU, GE4c) Bell
PHIL 295B: Perspectives on Moral Responsibility (3). Prerequisite: Two courses in philosophy. Intended for philosophy majors and minors. An introduction to central issues concerning the concept of moral responsibility. This course considers the question of whether humans (or other beings) are morally responsible for their activities, along with an examination of disagreements about the nature of moral responsibility and the conditions of its application. Questions addressed include: What conditions must be met for someone to be a morally responsible agent? for moral responsibility for a particular thing? for someone to be blameworthy or praiseworthy for that thing? Are people responsible only for voluntary actions, or also for (possibly non-voluntary) omissions, attitudes, and character? What role, if any, should facts about a person’s upbringing or culture play in our attributions of responsibility and/or ascriptions of praise or blame? After a brief introduction to the “traditional” problem of free will and moral responsibility, we consider a number of contemporary philosophical perspectives on such questions, including seminal work by P. F. Strawson, John Martin Fischer, Harry Frankfurt, T. M. Scanlon, Gary Watson, and Susan Wolf, among others. (HU, GE4c) Smith
|
| |
-
PHIL 296 - Spring-Term Seminar on Philosophical Topics
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 4
When Offered: Spring
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.
Topic for Spring 2010:
PHIL 296: Art and Authenticity (3) This course examines aesthetic theory and art from a philosophical and a personal perspective. It deals with the question of how beauty relates to knowledge and morality. A central theme is whether recognition of beauty or the making of art can reveal, discover or create something about the self, society or nature. The course also deals with the conception of a passionate artistic spirit that strives for authentic self-expression. Projects include the creation of a beautiful work of art and a trip to a prominent art gallery. (HU) Lowney
|
| |
-
PHIL 301 - Metaphysics
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An examination of central Issues in metaphysics. Topics include existence, the relationship between an object and its properties, time, space, persistence, and cause and effect. Topics may also include the nature of possibility, actuality, and necessary, and discussions about why anything exists at all.Goldberg.
|
| |
-
PHIL 309 - History of Ethics
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
A close examination of the writings of some of the philosophers who have shaped modern ethical thought, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and John Stuart Mill. Topics include theories of Natural Law; the social contract; the origin and nature of justice; morality and reason; morality and Christianity; and individual autonomy and state paternalism.Mahon.
|
| |
-
PHIL 311 - Wittgenstein
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Not offered in 2009-2010
A close study of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. Emphasis on the analysis of language, meaning, and states of consciousness.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 312 - Theory of Knowledge
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An examination of the basic problems in epistemology with an emphasis on contemporary discussions. Topics include skepticism, knowledge, justification (foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism), relativism, and rationality.Goldberg, Gregory.
|
| |
-
PHIL 313 - Philosophy of Mind
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall
A consideration and assessment of dualism and materialism and of various theories of the relation between the mental and the physical, such as the identity theory, functionalism, and supervenience.Gregory.
|
| |
-
PHIL 314 - Heidegger
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
We use the expression ‘being’ all the time in our everyday language, but do we really understand what Being is? Heidegger argues that the extraordinary question of Being is the most important question of philosophy. This course explores this question through a careful reading of Heidegger’s magnum opus Being and Time and some later essays. In addition to the meaning of Being, we discuss the following themes in Heidegger’s writing: temporality, being-in-the-world, being-towards-death, authenticity, and care.Verhage.
|
| |
-
PHIL 316 - Kant
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
An exploration of the full sweep of Kant’s Critical Philosophy, with special attention to the Critique of Pure Reason.Sessions.
|
| |
-
PHIL 320 - Distributive Justice
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall 2009 and alternate years
Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of the instructor.How should the product of social cooperation be distributed in a just society? Is wealth redistribution through taxes fair? Is it a fair distribution of wealth that a just society depends on, or is distributive justice more complicated than that? Should we have welfare programs, and, if so, what should they be like? Our studies may include John Rawls’ political liberalism, Robert Nozick’s libertarianism, Ronald Dworkin’s equality of resources, Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach, Stuart White’s justice as fair reciprocity, and criticisms of the distributive paradigm.Bell.
|
| |
-
PHIL 341 - Medical Ethics
(INTR 341)FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.An examination of the issues arising out of the human impact of modern biomedical research and practice. Specific issues are selected from among the following: abortion, contraception, death and dying, experimentation/research, genetics, in vitro fertilization, mental retardation, public health/community medicine, science/technology, transplantation and patients’ rights.Cooper.
|
| |
-
PHIL 342 - Legal Ethics
(INTR 342)FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.An examination of the issues associated with lawyers’ roles in society and their impact upon and obligations to the client, the court, and the legal profession. The course also addresses questions of the role and function of law and the adversary system.Cooper.
|
| |
-
PHIL 370 - Roe v. Wade and the Abortion Question
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 4
When Offered: Spring 2010 and alternate years
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.This course considers the question of whether abortion should be legal in a modern state from the perspectives of contemporary moral philosophy and U.S. law.Mahon.
|
| |
-
PHIL 375 - Philosophy of Time Travel
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 4
When Offered: Spring, 2010
Prerequisite:One course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.This course considers the philosophical possibility of time travel. First we read 20th-century philosophers on time, followed by late 20th- and early 21st-century philosophers on time travel. Lastly, we hear from a physicist on these issues. Concurrently, we watch time-travel movies, some professional, others made by students in class.Goldberg.
|
| |
-
PHIL 395 - Advanced Seminar
FDR: HU, GE4c
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisites: Six credits in philosophy and permission of the instructor.An intensive and critical study of selected issues or major figures in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 401 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 1
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the department.May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 402 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 2
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the department.May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
-
PHIL 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
When Offered: Fall, Winter
Prerequisite: Permission of the department.May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.Staff.
|
| |
Page: 1 <- 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10
| 11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 16
|
|
|
|