2019-2020 University Catalog 
    
    Jun 28, 2024  
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2019-2020 University Catalog archived

Course Descriptions

 

Music
  

  • MUS 111 - Opera Workshop


    Experiential Learning (EXP): YES
    Credits: 1
    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. This course focuses on the preparation of scenes from operas or of complete operas. Students audition for and are cast in roles in the production of the opera or the scenes. Rehearsals are scheduled subject to the availability of the cast and instructor. While some cast members may rehearse during weekdays, most should expect evening and weekend rehearsals. Parker.
  

  • MUS 112 - Chamber Ensembles


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1

    Prerequisite: Most sections require instructor consent. This course may be repeated. Small chamber groups consisting of vocalists and instrumentalists are created to perform music. 

    Bluegrass Ensemble offers students the opportunity to study and perform the traditional music of Appalachia in which improvisation is encouraged.

    Brass Ensemble offers students the opportunity to study and perform literature for brass instruments in various combinations.

    String Ensemble offers students the opportunity to study and perform literature for violin, viola, cello, and double bass in various combinations.

    Woodwind Ensemble offers students the opportunity to study and perform literature for woodwind instruments in various combinations. Staff.
  

  • MUS 113 - University Wind Ensemble


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1
    This course may be repeated. The University Wind Ensemble consists of wind and percussion players who perform band repertoire in concerts on and off campus. Dobbins.
  

  • MUS 114 - University Orchestra


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1
    This course may be repeated. Students who play wind, percussion, or orchestral string instruments may join the Orchestra, which is composed of university students, as well as area professional musicians and local residents. Dobbins.
  

  • MUS 115 - University Jazz Ensemble


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1
    This course may be repeated. The University Jazz Ensemble is made up of woodwind, brass, and rhythm section players and performs in a wide range of styles, from early swing to contemporary sounds. Vosbein.
  

  • MUS 116 - Bentley Musical Rehearsals


    Credits: 1
    This course may be repeated. This course is designed for rehearsal of music in preparation for the annual Bentley Musical. Only those cast in the production may enroll. Rehearsals are scheduled each year subject to the availability of the cast and instructor. While some cast members rehearse during weekdays, most should expect evening and weekend rehearsals. An audition is required and such dates are announced in advance by the Departments of Music and Theater and Dance. Staff.
  

  • MUS 120 - Introduction to Music


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    Development of musical understanding and enjoyment through acquiring skills in listening to music. Emphasis is placed upon learning to hear, to recognize, and to relate the various elements of music. T. Gaylard.
  

  • MUS 121 - Worlds of Music


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    This course introduces students to musical cultures outside of the Western European tradition. Through readings, lectures, listening sessions, and research, students explore the musical traditions of Native American, African, African-American, Central and Southeastern European, Indian, Indonesian, Asian, Latin American, and Arab cultures. Whenever possible. attendance at a live concert of non-Western European music is included. Parker.
  

  • MUS 141 - Applied Music: First Year


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. One credit is earned for ten 45-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; eight 55-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours of practice a week are required during the spring term. 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, composition, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds.  A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. ($360 lesson fee)

      Staff.
  

  • MUS 161 - Music Theory I


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    A study of scales, triads, and chord progressions. Instruction will include harmonic analysis and four-part writing from the 17th and 18th century common-practice tradition. This course covers the rudiments of music, analysis and part-writing of basic diatonic triads and dominant-seventh chords, the evaluation of music through performance analysis and the use of software to compose simple works with proper notation. Staff.
  

  • MUS 162 - Music Theory II


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: MUS 161. Corequisite: MUS 164. A continuation of MUS 161, including scales, triads, chord progressions, four-part writing and harmonic analysis of the common practice period in Western music, especially focusing on diatonic harmony. It covers the various chord types used in tonal harmony: tertian triads and seventh-chords It will focus on the tendency of certain chords to progress to certain other chords.   Staff.
  

  • MUS 163 - Aural Skills I


    Credits: 1
    Corequisite: MUS 161. This course aims to develop fundamental aural skills through ear-training (rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic dictation) and sight-singing (pitch and rhythm) via ear-training and sight-singing exercises in class, homework assignments, and regular practice in singing and rhythmic drilling. In addition, students work on introductory level improvisational skills in singing as well as basic keyboard skills. S. Petty.
  

  • MUS 164 - Aural Skills II


    Credits: 1
    Prerequisites: MUS 161 and 163. Corequisite: MUS 162 This course aims to further develop fundamental aural skills through ear-training (rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic dictation) and sight-singing (pitch and rhythm) via ear-training and sight-singing exercises in class, homework assignments, and regular practice in singing, rhythmic drilling, and keyboard harmony. In addition. students develop elementary level improvisational skills through guided materials including lead sheets. S. Petty.
  

  • MUS 195 - Topics in Sound Technology


    Credits: 1

    An exploration of a specific topic in which students 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 if the topics are different.

    Fall 2019, MUS 195-01: Topics in Sound Technology: Pro Tools Fundamentals (1). Prerequisite: Instructor consent. An introduction to fundamental Pro Tools concepts and principles, covering everything for a basic project from initial setup to final mixdown. Students learn to build sessions that include multi-track recordings of live audio, MIDI sequences, and virtual instruments. Hands-on exercises and projects introduce essential techniques for creating sessions, recording, and importing audio and MIDI, editing session media, navigating sessions and arranging media on tracks, and using basic processing and mixing techniques to finalize a production. Included with the course material is a download of media files and Pro Tools sessions to accompany the exercises and projects in the text.


  

  • MUS 200 - Recital Attendance


    Credits: 0
    Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. A course focused on the development of listening and performance skills through attendance at Department of Music concerts and recitals. Students attend at least 75 percent of the afternoon and evening events sponsored by the Department of Music. Students must also attend the music convocation that takes place one Friday afternoon each month during the fall and winter terms. Music majors must complete the course each term in residence after declaring the major. Music minors must complete two terms. Parker.
  

  • MUS 201 - Music History I


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    A survey of music from the Middle Ages through the Baroque period. Gaylard.
  

  • MUS 202 - Music History II


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: Ability to read music. Student who take this course should have the ability to read music.  A survey of music from the Pre-Classical to the Late Romantic period. Gaylard.
  

  • MUS 210 - Vocal Pedagogy


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: Two terms of applied vocal study and instructor consent. Designed for music and theater majors and advanced non-majors This course focuses on the basic functions of vocal production and strategies for teaching healthy singing. Parker.
  

  • MUS 220 - Music in the United States, 1607-1970


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    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
    Credits: 3
    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 222 - A Year in Jazz


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 4
    An in-depth view of a one-year span in the history of America’s only native art form. Students become absorbed in the era through the study of seminal recordings, historic videos, and readings. Research projects complete the term. Vosbein.
  

  • MUS 231 - Classical Music


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    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
    Credits: 3
    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 238 - The Music, Folklore, and Literature of Ireland


    (ENGL 238) FDR: HA
    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 4
    Prerequisite: INTR 238 in the preceding winter term. This course engages the music, folklore and literature of Ireland and the ways that the creation of these art forms is related to the places in which the art was created. We cover a wide variety of the history of Irish art and focus on the importance of place in the written, oral, and aural traditions of the island. Students study a range of musical compositions, styles, and traditions alongside the rich body of Irish folklore and folk customs that underlie these musical creations, as well as the rich literature that informs all of these artistic efforts. After the first week on campus, the remainder of the course takes place in Dingle in the West of Ireland and in Dublin. Conner and Dobbins.
  

  • MUS 241 - Applied Music: Second Year


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1
    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. One credit is earned for ten 45-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; eight 55-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours of practice a week are required during the spring term. 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, composition, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. A music major is entitled to one applied music course per term without charge. ($360 lesson fee) Staff.
  

  • MUS 261 - Music Theory III


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3
    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. Vosbein.
  

  • MUS 262 - Aural Skills III


    Credits: 1
    Prerequisite: MUS 162 and 164. Corequisite: MUS 261. Intermediate proficiency in aural, improvisation, and keyboard skills. This course aims to advance each student’s ear-training (rhythmic. melodic, and harmonic dictation) and sight-singing (pitch and rhythm) abilities via exercises in class, homework assignments, regular singing practice, rhythmic exercises, and online drilling. In addition, students continue developing improvisational skills in singing and keyboard skills in harmonic realization. S. Petty.
  

  • MUS 285 - Music in the Films of Stanley Kubrick


    (FILM 285) FDR: HS
    Credits: r
    How does music add power and meaning to a film? What are the connections between the flow of music and the flow of a dramatic narrative? How does music enhance visual images? The course will focus on the pre-existent classical compositions chosen by Stanley Kubrick for his movies 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), and The Shining (1980). The ability to read music is not a requirement for this course. Gaylard.
  

  • MUS 295 - Topics in Music


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3-4

    Selected studies in music with a focus on history and culture, non-classical genres, ethnomusicological topics, or performance. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Spring 2020, MUS 295-01: The Music, Folklore, and Literature of Ireland (4). This course engages the music, folklore and literature of Ireland and the ways that the creation of these art forms is related to the places in which the art was created. We cover a wide variety of the history of Irish art and focus on the importance of place in the written, oral, and aural traditions of the island. Students study a range of musical compositions, styles, and traditions alongside the rich body of Irish folklore and folk customs that underlie these musical creations, as well as the rich literature that informs all of these artistic efforts. (HA) Conner, Dobbins.


  

  • MUS 315 - Arranging and Orchestration


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisites: MUS 261 and 262. An exploration into the craft of writing music for voices and instruments. Students learn the ranges, transpositions, and technical characteristics of voice types and standard orchestral and band instruments. Projects include orchestrating for full ensembles.  Vosbein.
  

  • MUS 325 - Conducting and Methods I


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: MUS 162 and instructor consent. This course is designed to provide essential skills for basic conducting, including work on gesture, rehearsal techniques, and logistical considerations. Dobbins.
  

  • MUS 326 - Conducting and Methods II - Choral


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: MUS 325. A continuation of MUS 325, with a focus on more advanced gesture and rehearsal techniques and choral literature and approaches from a broad spectrum of historical and cultural era and a variety of ensemble types. Lynch.
  

  • MUS 327 - Conducting and Methods II - Instrumental


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisites: MUS 325. A continuation of MUS 325. with a focus on more advanced musical gesture and rehearsal techniques. Band and orchestral literature are studied. Emphasis is on providing students with a broad spectrum of approaches from a variety of historical and cultural eras. Dobbins.
  

  • MUS 341 - Applied Music: Third Year


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1-2
    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. One credit is earned for ten 45-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; eight 55-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours of practice a week are required during the spring term. 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, composition, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. 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. ($360 lesson fee) Staff.
  

  • MUS 350 - Brass Techniques


    Credits: 1
    This course is designed to teach students sound contemporary methods for instruction of brass instruments in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Students learn techniques for playing and teaching each of the brass instruments with a focus on pedagogical issues and basic care and maintenance that relate to each individual instrument. Staff.
  

  • MUS 351 - Percussion Techniques


    Credits: 1
    This course is designed to teach students sound contemporary methods for instruction of percussion instruments in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Students learn techniques for playing and teaching each of the primary percussion instruments with a focus on pedagogical issues and basic care and maintenance that relate to each individual instrument. DiPersio.
  

  • MUS 352 - String Techniques


    Credits: 1
    This course is designed to teach students sound contemporary methods for instruction of string instruments in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Students learn techniques for playing and teaching each of the string instruments with a focus on pedagogical issues and basic care and maintenance that relate to each individual instrument. Goudimova.
  

  • MUS 353 - Woodwind Techniques


    Credits: 1
    This course is designed to teach students sound contemporary methods for instruction of woodwind instruments in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Students learn techniques for playing and teaching each of the woodwind instruments with a focus on pedagogical issues and basic care and maintenance that relate to each individual instrument. H. Dobbins.
  

  • MUS 365 - Post Tonal Music


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: MUS 261. An historical and analytical approach to western art music composed after 1890. Students study major composers and significant musical movements and develop new analytical tools as the class explores music from Debussy to the present day. Vosbein.
  

  • MUS 423 - Directed Individual Project


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisites: Music major and instructor consent. May be repeated for degree credit with permission. Staff.
  

  • MUS 441 - Applied Music: Fourth Year


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1-2
    Prerequisites: Instructor consent; seniors must have permission of the department head. One credit is earned for ten 45-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours practice a week during fall and winter terms; eight 55-minute private lessons and a minimum of five hours of practice a week are required during the spring term. 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, composition, jazz improvisation, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds. 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. ($360 lesson fee) Staff.
  

  • MUS 473 - Senior Thesis


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisites: Music major and instructor consent. For theory composition students, this culminates in a recital of original compositions or an analytical thesis. For music history students, this culminates in the writing of a thesis. For performance students, this culminates in a formal recital. For general music students, this culminates in a project developed in consultation with the instructor. Staff.
  

  • MUS 493 - Honors Thesis


    Credits: 3-3
    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
    Prerequisite: Either CBSC/PSYC 110 or CBSC/PSYC 111; or instructor consent. Corequisite: NEUR 121. 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. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 121 - Introduction to Neuroscience Workshop


    Credits: 1
    Corequisite: NEUR 120. Training in the basic fundamental skills needed tor a career in the neurosciences. Prospective majors 1) learn fundamental oral presentation skills critically needed for a career in the biosciences; 2) learn to lead a discussion with an emphasis on critical analysis of primary research articles; 3) acquire a conceptual toolbox and theoretical understanding of current neuroscience techniques; 4) develop a digital portfolio of their academic work and research; and 5) learn about current neuroscience lab research opportunities at W&L. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 395 - Special Topics in Neuroscience


    Credits: 1, 2, or 3
    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 if the topics are different.


  

  • NEUR 401 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 1
    Prerequisite: Consent 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 if the topics are different. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 403 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: Consent 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 if the topics are different. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 422 - Directed Individual Research


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 2
    Prerequisite: Consent 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 carried out during the summer. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. No more than six credits may apply towards the major. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 423 - Directed Individual Research


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: Consent 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 carried out during the summer. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. No more than six credits may apply towards the major. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 442 - Honors Thesis Proposal


    Credits: 2
    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 453 - Neuroscience Internship


    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: Instructor’s or major director’s consent. This course provides students an opportunity to engage in scholarly and professional development though external placements in research laboratory, clinical, or business settings where neuroscientific content is a focus of daily work activity. May be carried out during the summer. Staff.
  

  • NEUR 493 - Honors Thesis


    Credits: 3-3
    Prerequisites: Senior standing and honors candidacy. Individual conference. Staff.

Philosophy
  

  • PHIL 104 - Introduction to Moral and Political Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    The course provides a broad historical survey of moral and political philosophy. Students read selections from the work of a number of great women and men from the ancient to the contemporary period, dealing with questions of ethics and moral and political philosophy. We consider how philosophy can be way of life and how we can pursue wisdom through careful argumentation and analysis of the foundations of our beliefs about the world, morality, human nature, good and evil, government and society, justice, and equality. Staff.
  

  • PHIL 105 - Introduction to Theories of Knowledge and Reality


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An introduction to philosophy, covering the following puzzles and questions: Do we really know anything? What is time like? Is time travel possible? What are selves? Does God exist? Do we have free will? Students see how these big questions are pursued in both Western and Eastern traditions and how they impact everyday life. The main goal of this course is to develop rigorous and disciplined methods of thinking and writing. Emphasis is especially placed on developing the abilities to extract, present, explain, and evaluate positions and arguments. Staff.
  

  • PHIL 110 - Ancient Greek Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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). Taylor.
  

  • PHIL 120 - Modern European Philosophy: Descartes to Hume


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An examination of some of the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion of the European Enlightenment, including views of the rationalists Rene Descartes, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz; and the empiricists Catharine Cockburn, John Locke, and David Hume. Topics include skepticism about the external world, mind-body dualism, the existence and nature of God, theories of substance, personal identity, and causation. Goldberg.
  

  • PHIL 130 - Classical Chinese Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An introduction to philosophy via classical Chinese philosophy. We cover major schools in classical Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism. Many ideas of these schools have significantly shaped cultural practice in East Asia. We focus on the philosophical articulation and defense of these schools, and we reflect on issues in cosmology, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy. We also discuss the relevance of classical Chinese philosophy to Western philosophy as well as empirical research. No background is presupposed. Kang.
  

  • PHIL 145 - Contemporary Moral Problems


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Philosophical consideration of some of the main moral and political issues we confront in society and the world today, such as war, terrorism, global climate change, poverty, capital punishment, affirmative action, abortion, the treatment of animals, and hate speech. Topics vary. Bell, Smith.
  

  • PHIL 150 - Ethics and the Environment


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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. Cooper.
  

  • PHIL 170 - Introduction to Logic


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 sentential and quantificational logic. Goldberg, Gregory, McGonigal.
  

  • PHIL 195 - Seminar in History of Philosophy or Major Figures


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in fall-winter-spring, 4 in spring
    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.


  

  • PHIL 196 - Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in fall-winter-spring, 4 in spring

    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Winter 2020, PHIL 196-01: First-Year Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Ethics and Emerging Technologies (3). First-Year Seminar. Prerequisite: First-year class standing only. By some accounts, technology is the defining aspect of modern society that shapes how we experience the world. At the same time, technology is accelerating at a pace that challenges our ability to take stock of the ethical issues at hand. In this seminar, we take a critical look at a number of cutting-edge technologies that are still largely on the horizon and attempt to decipher the ethical issues they present and how such problems might be mitigated. Some emerging technologies we critically analyze include artificial intelligence, human enhancement, virtual reality, surveillance technologies, synthetic biology, self-driving cars, and killer robots. (HU) Weissman.

    Fall 2019, PHIL 196-01: First-Year Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Ethics and Emerging Technologies (3). First-Year Seminar. Prerequisite: First-year class standing only. By some accounts, technology is the defining aspect of modern society that shapes how we experience the world. At the same time, technology is accelerating at a pace that challenges our ability to take stock of the ethical issues at hand. In this seminar, we take a critical look at a number of cutting-edge technologies that are still largely on the horizon and attempt to decipher the ethical issues they present and how such problems might be mitigated. Some emerging technologies we critically analyze include artificial intelligence, human enhancement, virtual reality, surveillance technologies, synthetic biology, self-driving cars, and killer robots. (HU) Weissman.

    Winter 2020, PHIL 196-01: First-Year Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Ethics and Emerging Technologies (3). First-Year Seminar. Prerequisite: First-year class standing only. By some accounts, technology is the defining aspect of modern society that shapes how we experience the world. At the same time, technology is accelerating at a pace that challenges our ability to take stock of the ethical issues at hand. In this seminar, we take a critical look at a number of cutting-edge technologies that are still largely on the horizon and attempt to decipher the ethical issues they present and how such problems might be mitigated. Some emerging technologies we critically analyze include artificial intelligence, human enhancement, virtual reality, surveillance technologies, synthetic biology, self-driving cars, and killer robots. (HU) Weissman.


  

  • PHIL 197 - Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in fall-winter-spring, 4 in spring
    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.


  

  • PHIL 214 - Religion and Existentialism


    (REL 214) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    A consideration of the accounts of human existence (faith and doubt; death and being-in-the-world; anxiety, boredom, and hope; sin and evil; etc.) elaborated by philosophers, theologians, and literary figures in the 19th and 20th centuries. The central figures considered are Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Attention is paid to their significance for future philosophers, theologians, artists, and literary figures, and consideration may also be paid to forerunners in earlier centuries. Kosky.
  

  • PHIL 218 - Heidegger and Being in the World


    (REL 218) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    This course explores the work of Martin Heidegger and the development of its themes in the work of select philosophical, literary, and/or film artists. A close reading of the magisterial account of being in the world in Being and Time is followed by careful study of representative essays from his later work. After our reading of Heidegger, we consider the literary, cinematic, and/or philosophical work of major 20th- and 21st-century artists who let us reflect on the possibilities and/or problems that his account of being in the world poses for ethical, religious, and existential concern. Kosky.
  

  • PHIL 221 - Plato


    (CLAS 221) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An in-depth examination of the philosophy of Plato. We look at Plato’s epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political philosophy through a careful analysis of several dialogues, including some or all of the following: Euthyphro, Laches, Apology, Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, and Republic. In addition, we consider certain challenges posed by Plato’s use of the dialogue form, such as whether we are justified in assuming that Socrates is a mouthpiece for Plato’s own views, and how we should interpret Plato’s frequent appeal to myths and other literary devices within his dialogues.  Smith.
  

  • PHIL 222 - Aristotle


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    A study of Aristotle’s comprehensive philosophy of man and nature, including his logic, physics, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and aesthetics. Staff.
  

  • PHIL 228 - John Stuart Mill


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    A study of the life and ideas of a 19th-century philosopher who was ahead of his time. The class considers 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? M. Bell.
  

  • PHIL 232 - Nietzsche


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 234 - American Pragmatism


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    A survey of historical and contemporary American pragmatist philosophers, who believe that truth is linked to concrete consequences, meaning is a social phenomenon, and the line between philosophy and politics is permeable. Goldberg.
  

  • PHIL 235 - The Second Sex: Beauvoir on the Power of Gender


    (WGSS 235) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Sixty years after its initial publication, The Second Sex is as eye-opening and relevant as ever. Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpiece weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to analyze the Western notion of “woman” and to explore the making and the power of gender and sexuality. The Second Sex is an important philosophical and political document about inequality and enforced “otherness.” Referring to the history of philosophy, new developments in existential thought, and drawing on extensive interviews with women, Beauvoir synthesizes research about women’s bodies and psyches as well as their historic and economic roles. Verhage.
  

  • PHIL 238 - Existentialism: Meaning and Existence


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 239 - Postmodernism: Power, Difference, and Disruption


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    While many things are said to be “postmodern” –architecture, pop-culture, literature, art, philosophy– the term itself escapes many attempts at definition. In this seminar, we examine the philosophical roots of postmodern thought in an effort to gain better insight to its fluid character. The course concentrates especially on the writings of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Gilles Deleuze. We read Foucault’s account of power and the docile body in Discipline and Punish; we discuss Derrida’s deconstructionist project and his concept of “differance”; and we explore the fascinatingly complex world of Deleuze’s and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. After carefully exploring these complicated texts, we read several critical appropriations of these works in contemporary race theory, postcolonial studies, and feminist philosophy. Verhage.
  

  • PHIL 240 - Contemporary Ethical Theory


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An in-depth exploration of central questions in contemporary normative ethical theory, including the following: Which features of actions are morally important to determining their rightness (e.g., their motive, their intrinsic nature, their consequences)? What is the relation between moral values and personal values (e.g., those deriving from personal commitments and relationships)? How demanding is morality? How can we evaluate competing theories of normative ethics? Students consider these and related issues by examining contemporary philosophical defenses of consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, and contractualism. Staff.
  

  • PHIL 241 - Poverty, Ethics, and Religion


    (POV 241)
    Credits: 3
    This course introduces students to some of the most influential and compelling ethical arguments (both secular and religious) about our moral obligations regarding poverty. The course also examines the benefits and challenges of doing comparative religious and philosophical ethical analysis of a pressing moral and social problem. In particular, students will consider the arguments for and against including religiously inflected arguments in public deliberation about anti-poverty policy. Pickett.
  

  • PHIL 242 - Social Inequality and Fair Opportunity


    (WGSS 242) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 243 - Martin Luther King Jr.: Poverty, Justice, and Love


    (POV 243) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    This course offers students the opportunity to examine the ethics and theology that informed the public arguments about poverty made by one of the 20th century’s most important social justice theorists and activists, Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the competing views of his contemporaries, critics, forebears, and heirs. The course asks the following questions, among others: How do justice and love relate to one another and to poverty reduction? What role should religion play in public discussions and policies about poverty and justice? Are the dignity and the beloved community King championed the proper goal of anti-poverty efforts? Pickett.
  

  • PHIL 244 - Feminist Social and Political Philosophy


    (WGSS 244) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 245 - Poverty, Dignity, and Human Rights


    (POV 245) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Is severe poverty a human rights violation? This course examines that question and others by means of an investigation of the main philosophical and religious debates about human rights. More broadly, the course provides students with the opportunity to examine our duties (individually and collectively) to those said to suffer from any human rights abuse. Questions considered include: Are human rights universal or culturally specific? What (if anything) grounds human rights? Are religious justifications of rights permissible in a pluralistic world? Is dignity a useful concept for defending and/or discerning human rights? Do we only have liberty rights (to be free of mistreatment) or do we also have welfare rights (to claim certain positive treatment from others)? What are the practical (moral, political. and legal) implications of identifying severe poverty as a human rights violation? Pickett.
  

  • PHIL 246 - Philosophy of Sex


    (WGSS 246) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 247 - Medicine, Research, and Poverty


    (POV 247) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    This seminar introduces students to central ethical issues in the provision of medical care and the conduct of medical research in the context of poverty. Specific topics include medical research on prisoners and the indigent; ancillary care obligations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); meeting the standard of care in LMICs; access to essential medicines; allocation of scarce medical resources; and compensated donation for organs or tissues. Taylor.
  

  • PHIL 248 - Ethics of War


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    An investigation of important ethical issues concerning the justification, conduct, and consequences of war. The course concentrates, in particular, on traditional just war theory and on recent challenges that have been raised to the central tenets of this theory in light of the rise of terrorism and “asymmetric conflict” (i.e., conflicts waged between state and non-state parties), on the one hand, and reflection upon the moral responsibility of individuals who choose to support or participate in unjust wars, on the other. We address questions such as the following: Should we regard all combatants in war as having the same moral status, regardless of whether they are fighting for a “just cause”? Is it ever morally permissible to attack non-combatants? Is terrorism ever morally justified? Is torture ever morally justified? Is there a moral obligation to engage in humanitarian intervention to stop genocide? Can the conditions of war constitute an excusing condition for acts of moral atrocity? Smith.
  

  • PHIL 249 - Poverty, Oppression, and Privilege


    (POV 249) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    This seminar asks one overarching question: Are the increasingly common - and contested - concepts of “oppression” and “privilege” useful in poverty studies and in the pursuit of justice? Along the way, we consider the following more specific questions: Is poverty a form of oppression? Is systemic disadvantage always oppressive or is it sometimes justifiable? What is the relationship between privilege and moral responsibility? Is privilege blameworthy? Do the privileged have distinct responsibilities to advocate for the just treatment of the disadvantaged? For that matter, do the oppressed have their own distinct responsibilities or would such a burden be an additional form of oppression? Is advocating for the disadvantaged privileged and (sometimes) oppressive? If so, is failing to advocate even worse? Who is responsible for the pursuit of justice and what, if anything, should be done? Pickett.
  

  • PHIL 250 - Philosophies of Life


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Prerequisite: 3 credits in philosophy or instructor consent. 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 252 - Philosophy of Law


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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.
  

  • PHIL 254 - Philosophy of the Family: Beyond Tradition


    (WGSS 254) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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 256 - Free Will and Moral Responsibility


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    This course provides an introduction to the problem of free will and moral responsibility. It is natural to wonder what place there is for freedom in a natural world of cause and effect. Our ordinary practices of holding people responsible (which includes not just blame, but also, e.g., credit, where credit is due) seem threatened equally by either determinism or indeterminism, fate or chance. In this class, we ask: What sort of concepts are freedom and responsibility, and what must a person be for those concepts to be applicable? The course begins with a brief historical overview of the problem of free will and moral responsibility, and then examines a number of contemporary philosophical perspectives on this problem, including the seminal work of P. F. Strawson, Harry Frankfurt, Gary Watson, John Martin Fischer, Susan Wolf, and T. M. Scanlon, among others. Smith.
  

  • PHIL 260 - Political Philosophy: The Social Contract


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Is the government’s power over its citizens morally legitimate? Do citizens have any political obligations to their government? What is individual liberty and how should it be respected? How should a commitment to liberty be balanced against a concern for equality and the common good? Social Contract doctrine–to which the Declaration of Independence adverts–provides answers to these questions. This course surveys the Social Contract theories of three of the most influential political philosophers of the modern age, whose writings shaped our conception of the republic and its principles: Thomas Hobbes. John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. Taylor.
  

  • PHIL 264 - Aesthetics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    This course offers a wide-ranging, reflective overview of contemporary debates in the philosophy of art. We discuss the following kinds of questions: How are artistic experience and value interrelated? In what does beauty consist? What is the nature of aesthetic experience? Should we value works of art for what we can learn from them? How do pictures represent? What constitutes artistic expression? In what ways is the imagination involved in engaging with artworks? Can emotional responses to fiction be genuine and rational? Is artistic intention relevant to the interpretation of artworks? Are there general principles of aesthetic evaluation? What are the relations between the moral and aesthetic values of art? McGonigal.
  

  • PHIL 270 - Intermediate Logic


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Prerequisite: PHIL 170 or instructor consent. An examination of alternative formal logics and issues in the philosophy of logic. Topics include formal ways of modeling possibility, actuality, and necessity; obligation and permissibility; pastness, presentness, and futurity; and others. They also include informal considerations of topics like conditionals, counterfactuals, intuitionism, and others. Goldberg, Gregory.
  

  • PHIL 272 - Philosophy and Science Fiction


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Discussion of one or more major works in science fiction and in philosophy that explore related themes. Goldberg.
  

  • PHIL 274 - Metaphysics: Existence and Reality


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An examination of central issues in metaphysics. Topics include free will and determinism; cause and effect; space and time; being and existence; and possibility, actuality, and necessity. Goldberg.
  

  • PHIL 278 - Epistemology: Knowledge and Doubt


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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. Cooper, Goldberg, Gregory.
  

  • PHIL 282 - Philosophy of Biology


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    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. Cooper.
  

  • PHIL 285 - The Unruly Body: Philosophy, Science, and Culture


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    “We are bodies.” This statement apparently affirms the obvious. But if this is so obvious why then do we so often disregard and disrespect our bodies and the bodies of others? In this interdisciplinary course, students study theories of embodiment through the study of the (i) history of philosophy, (ii) contemporary scientific and philosophical depictions of the body, and (iii) social-cultural structures affecting our bodies. Finally (iv), we consider how we can rethink, relive, regard, refigure, restore, and respect our body and the body of others in more productive and thought-provoking ways. Verhage.
  

  • PHIL 295 - Seminar in History of Philosophy or Major Figures


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in fall-winter-spring, 4 in spring)

    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Fall 2019, PHIL 295A-01: Seminar in History of Philosophy or Major Figures: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy (3). An advanced survey of Chinese Buddhism. Buddhism was founded in India. After it entered China, Chinese Buddhists created four distinct forms of Buddhism—namely, Tiantai, Huayan, Chan/Zen, and Pure Land—by integrating Indian Buddhism with native Chinese ideas. We focus on the philosophical articulation and defense of these schools, and reflect on issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and ethics. By examining the origin, development, and influence of Chinese Buddhism, students see how the three major trends of Chinese thoughts—Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism—are entangled with one another. We also discuss the relevance of Chinese Buddhism to Western philosophy. (HU) Kang.

     


  

  • PHIL 296 - Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in fall-winter-spring, 4 in spring

    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Spring 2020, PHIL 296-01: Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Ethics and Emerging Technologies (3). By some accounts, technology is the defining aspect of modern society that shapes how we experience the world. At the same time, technology is accelerating at a pace that challenges our ability to take stock of the ethical issues at hand. In this seminar, we take a critical look at a number of cutting-edge technologies that are still largely on the horizon and attempt to decipher the ethical issues they present and how such problems might be mitigated. Some emerging technologies we critically analyze include artificial intelligence, human enhancement, virtual reality, surveillance technologies, synthetic biology, self-driving cars, and killer robots. (HU) Weissman.

    Fall 2019, PHIL 296A-01: Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Virtue Ethics and Liberal Arts Education (3). The mission of Washington and Lee is to provide a liberal arts education that helps students develop their capacities to think freely, critically, and humanely and to act with honor, integrity, and civility. These capacities are known as virtues, positive traits of intellect and character that are believed to be conducive to living well. Virtue ethics is one of the oldest and most important approaches to moral theory. Plato famously asked whether virtue can be taught. Aristotle’s Ethics attempts to answer Plato by giving an account of how the traits that are necessary to human flourishing can be acquired. In this seminar, students read classic and contemporary texts in virtue ethics, with the aim of evaluating W&L’s mission and the university’s efforts to fulfill it. What does it mean to think freely, critically, and humanely? What are the distinguishing characteristics of honor, integrity, and civility? Are these traits beneficial in every circumstance? Are there other virtues that the university should strive to cultivate in its students? How effectively do the culture, curriculum, and extra-curricular programs at Washington and Lee teach the virtues to which our mission commits us? Students reflect upon their own educational goals, choices, and experiences in light of the philosophical works that they read. (HU) Dudley.

     


  

  • PHIL 297 - Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in fall-winter-spring, 4 in spring
    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.


  

  • PHIL 310 - Kant


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    A close reading of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant’s most important work in metaphysics and epistemology and one of the most influential philosophical works ever written. Goldberg.
 

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