Fall 2022 Strand Course Descriptions
Technology and Innovation (301)
Conflict (302)
Citizenship (303)
Wellness (304)
Sustainability (305)
Technology and Innovation (301)
Elective (ELES)
HONORS Everyday Products: The Good, the Bad and the Bubbly, Professor M. Bubacz
ELES 301-01, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51332
*Restricted to Students in the Honors Program
Financial Technology, Professor M. Chitavi
ELES 301-04, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 51232
Financial Technology (Fintech) is a futuristic class that teaches how cutting-edge technologies are disrupting the Finance industry. Fintech is an old phenomenon with computers used in business for years. However, new technologies like Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and Artificial Intelligence are disrupting the financial industry. This class will build your knowledge from the financial basics while introducing you to the new trends of mobile money, payment systems and cryptocurrencies. There are no prerequisite requirements to enroll in this course.
English (ENGS)
“The Future Now: Reading Sci-Fi,” Professor M. Livingston
ENGS 301-01, MWF 1000-1050, CRN 50713
ENGS 301-02, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 50713
The future is coming. It always is. What will it bring? What does that mean for us today? This course investigates the ways in which science-fiction allows us to examine our present while preparing for what’s to come.
History (HISS)
“The Gun & The Press,” Professor K. Boughan
HISS 301-01, MWF 1000-1050, CRN 50745
HISS 301-01, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 50755
Description Coming Soon!
Natural Science (NTSS)
How Planes Fly, Professor J. Berlinghieri
NTSS 301-01, TR 0930-1045, CRN 51514
The flight of heavier than air vehicles is a wonder and a marvelous application of the principles of physics. This course is an introduction to the theory and application of aerodynamics, the study of air in motion. It provides an introduction to the physical principles of flight. The primary goals are to acquire an understanding of the basic principles, elementary models, and applications of aerodynamics as they apply to the study of heavier than air flight. Students who have a knowledge of algebra have the prerequisites for the level at which this course is taught. Students who want to understand how planes fly or who have a desire to be a pilot will find this course useful.
“Making Smart Tech,” Professor H. Yochum
NTSS 301-03, TR 1100-1215, CRN 11689
A number of innovative technologies use a mix of software and hardware to sense and respond to the surrounding world. Example devices include sensor-based toys, kinetic sculpture, low cost scientific instruments, interactive wearables, and Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices. This course is an accessible, project-based introduction to conceiving, designing, and developing interactive sensor-based prototypes. Students will pursue projects based on their interests. Practical hands-on exercises will introduce the fundamentals of circuits, microcontroller programming, sensors, and actuators. No experience needed.
Social Science (SCSS)
“Democracy & Technology,” Professor W. Collins
SCSS 301-01, MWF 1300-1350, CRN 50997
SCSS 301-02, MWF 1400-1450, CRN 50998
Nearly two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville noticed an almost irresistible drift within democratic nations toward administrative centralization or “soft despotism.” Under this mild but degrading form of tyranny, democratic citizens remain in “perpetual childhood” as a result of having exchanged their liberty for the security and comfort provided by the technical expertise of anonymous administrators or “schoolmasters.”
This three credit hour, social science “strand” course is a study of the basic principles and institutions of American democracy, with special emphasis on their relation to modern science and technology. Guided, if not somewhat alarmed, by the future described by Tocqueville, our study aims to know which features of American democracy, if any, leave American political life exposed to technological and administrative control. Are America’s founding principles and institutions to blame, as some conservative and progressive readers of Tocqueville say? Or have certain changes in American democracy since the founding disposed citizens to confuse their liberty with the security and happiness provided by advances in technology and today’s administrative state? Finally, how persuasive are Tocqueville’s concerns about democracy’s dangerous tendencies, anyway? Does his “aristocratic” view of liberty remain credible in our technological age?
Conflict (302)
Elective (ELES)
“Human-Wildlife Conflict” Professor A. Gramling
ELES 302-01, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51489
As the human population grows and the habitat for wildlife shrinks, conflicts between humans and wildlife increase in frequency. These conflicts can be deadly, costly, and frustrating. This course will discuss the biology of predators, pests, and plagues to better understand how and why they impact humans. We will also explore methods of wildlife damage management to answer the question: Can we balance the needs of humans with the needs of wildlife?
Wolf Warrior: Chinese Film & Music, Professor Y. Tsai
ELES 302-02, MWF 0900-0950, CRN 51548
This course explores Chinese culture in the genre of film and music. Topics include a brief history of Chinese cinema, historical memories (the Opium Wars and ensuing encroachment of imperialist powers, the political movements since the establishment of People’s Republic of China, and China’s economic reform), and national identity. Through analysis of film and music, students explore historical and cultural contexts of what it means to be “Chinese” in the 20th and 21st centuries and how such contexts cultivate confrontational rhetoric and behavior in China’s wolf warrior diplomacy in the 21st century.
English (ENGS)
Literature of War Professor J. Adair
ENGS 302-01, TR 0800-0915, CRN 50715
ENGS 302-02, TR 0930-1045, CRN 50716
This class provides a broad overview of the major themes of modern war through a mixture of fictional and non-fictional accounts. Although the majority of the texts are from the GWOT, other classic selections have been woven in to provide historical perspective and a more nuanced understanding of how we arrived at the current understanding. Subjects covered include training for combat, modern combat, the crippling military bureaucracy, PTSD and other post-combat experiences.
Wrestling with Evil in Literature and Film, Professor E. Frame
ENGS 302-03, TR 1330-1445, CRN 50808
ENGS 302-04, TR, 1500-1615, CRN 50927
Hercules. Achilles. Odysseus. Leonidas. We all know the names of these ancient heroes, and many of us know their stories. But, why thousands of years later and thousands of miles away from Greece, do we still talk about these men? This class will examine ancient writings about these men, consider them in the context of their time and culture, and then look at their modern film and literature adaptations. We will read about ancient gods, goddesses, and the trials of Hercules before considering Disney’s version. Excerpts from The Iliad will be discussed before we compare how the story appears in comic books and the film Troy starring Brad Pitt. After reading parts of The Odyssey, the class will then consider how this wily leader appears in other comic books and in the American South in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? Finally, we will learn about the Spartan stand at Thermopylae from both ancient reporters and Frank Miller’s graphic novel and film, 300. For all these texts and films, we will ask, what types of conflict are written about? Which ones are valued? How are heroes defined? Is there only one type? How have ideas about conflict and resolution changed (or not) from ancient Greece to today? What values, ideas, and beliefs lead to, exacerbate, and deescalate these conflicts? What is the role of the individual and groups in relation to conflict and resolution? How can we analyze and write about these depictions? How can we articulate and evaluate different styles of leadership and service during conflict?
History (HISS)
“British Homefront in WWI,” Professor K. Grenier
HISS 302-01, MWF 0900-0950, CRN 50747
HISS 302-01, MWF 1000-1050, CRN 50764
This course will consider the British experience of World War I. In addition to an overview of the military experience of the war, we will examine the various ways in which the war influenced the home front, including expectations of government’s role in the nation, relationships with the British Empire and Ireland, and understandings of what it means to be a citizen.
“Islamic Conquest,” Professor C. Wright
HISS 302-03, MWF 0900-0950, CRN 51014
HISS 302-04, MWF 1000-1050, CRN 51016
HISS 302-05, MWF 1300-1350, CRN 51444
Description Coming Soon!
Natural Science (NTSS)
Chemistry in War & Peace, Professor B. Adair-Hudson
NTSS 302-01, TR 1330-1445, CRN 51533
Humans have used chemicals and chemical properties to create weapons for centuries, but the conflict associated with the use of chemicals is not just related to war. Both negative and positive impacts on people, animals, and the environment (natural and fabricated) frequently occur with the use of chemicals. For example, food waste and cost can be reduced when lightweight plastics are used for shipping and storing. However, recycling of many plastics can be cost prohibitive due to the same chemical properties that make them useful. Students will learn some common chemical structures and properties to better understand their uses. Students will research and discuss many quantitative factors that produce conflict from chemical use during times of war and peace.
Conflict & Cooperation in Nature, Professor D. Donnell
NTSS 302-02, MWF 0800-0850, CRN 51490
Description Coming Soon!
“Bioterrorism,” Professor K. Johnson
NTSS 302-04, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 51491
The basis of conflict is differing ideas, which, when taken to the extreme, can manifest as acts of terrorism. Historically, biological agents have been used as weapons in an array of political and ideological conflicts. This course will examine diverse aspects of the creation, use, and response to the weaponization of biological agents. An understanding of the science underlying biological agents is critical to preventing the escalation of biological outbreaks. A detailed study of the biological characteristics of these organisms will be the main focus for this course.
Social Science (SCSS)
“National Guard in Conflict,” Professor P. Moring
SCSS 302-01, TR 0800-0915, CRN 51113
SCSS 302-02, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51114
Social Psychology surveys our scientific knowledge of how the individual affects and is affected by other people. The student will examine current theories, research findings, and applications in a number of specific topic areas pertinent to social thinking and social behavior; these include attitudes, persuasion, conformity, group processes, interpersonal attraction, aggression, and helping. Four major topics addressed in the class – prejudice, conflict, conflict resolution, and aggression – are particularly reflective of this course’s place within the Conflict Strand. The course emphasizes the development and use of critical thinking and writing skills to facilitate the student’s mastery of the course material.
International Conflict & Global Justice, Professor TBD
SCSS 302-03, T 1330-1600, CRN 51115
Description Coming Soon!
Educational Psychology, Professor C. Dague
SCSS 302-04, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51118This survey course focuses on the dynamics of human learning and the psychological principles that serve as the foundation for human development
and improvement. The general goal is to (a) introduce students to the field of educational psychology through an interdisciplinary lens using conceptual and theoretical principles, and (b) highlight research findings from the discipline of psychology. Major emphasis is placed on assisting students in gaining a functional knowledge of the ideas explored. Class discussions, activities, and experiential learning opportunities focus on the connections between theory and practice and provide students with opportunities to apply psychological principles and solve practical problems.
Psychology of Prejudice & Racism, Professor K. Lassiter
SCSS 302-06, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51504
Racism is a pernicious, pervasive and persistent social problem, so it is not surprising that it has been a central and defining topic in social psychology since the 1930s. The course reviews the history and evolution of the construct of race as a psychological and social phenomenon. While this course will be social psychological in nature, the insidiousness of race in practically every aspect of life necessitates a multidisciplinary approach. Consequently, students will be exposed to readings in psychology, as well as ideas presented in other disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, and biology. The course will emphasize a theoretical and conceptual approach toward understanding the psychology of racial thinking.
Citizenship (303)
Elective (ELES)
Globetrotting the Hispanic World: Food and Travel Encounters, Professor M. Hellin
ELES 303-01, MWF 1300-1350, CRN 51547
The course explores the Hispanic culture as a globetrotting learner around new foodscapes, social life, music, dance, and festivals. This immersive journey will take you through a different Hispanic country each week: Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia, and more. It will enhance your cultural roadmap, develop leadership, and promote (inter)connections as a global citizen. It will amplify cultural awareness, foster deeper understanding of other ways of living, whilst being engaged in a fun filled intellectual journey.
English (ENGS)
Plague & Penance, Professor L. Hendriks
ENGS 303-01, MWF 1200-1250, CRN 50717
Description Coming Soon!
“Forbidding Cities: Reimagining Urban Spaces” Professor L. Hendriks
ENGS 303-02, MW 1300-1415, CRN 50718
This Citizenship Strand English course will engage with the question of the reciprocal responsibilities of city and citizen: what should communities do to care for the people who live within them, and what should residents do to care for the communities in which they live? The syllabus includes two classic novellas that depict municipalities akin to characters in their own right—Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) and Nella Larsen’s Quicksand (1928). We will also read P. E. Moskowitz’ How to Kill a City (2017) to help us think about contemporary issues of urban development, beautification, and preservation, and their impacts on where people choose to live and the communities from which they are excluded.
History (HISS)
History of Immigration, Professor N. Aguirre
HISS 303-01, TR 0930-1045, CRN 50743
This course surveys U.S. immigration history from European colonialism through the present day. Through close reading of primary and secondary sources, students will analyze topics including: colonial subjecthood, citizenship, immigration policy, assimilation, and nativism. Students will also consider how immigration has shaped the United States, and the impact of immigration on migrants and their communities.
Roman Citizenship, Professor M. Maddox & Professor TBD
HISS 303-02, MWF 0800-0850, CRN 51445
HISS 303-03, MWF 1000-1050, CRN 50752
This course surveys Roman history through Rome’s origins as a Latin village to its emergence as the head of an Empire. Emphasis will be placed on what it meant to be a Roman citizen, a citizen soldier, a wife/husband, a slave, and the roles of different social groups and genders within Roman society. Students will consider urban life in Roman cities, as well as the personalities and values of the Romans and how these led to Rome’s political, social, military, and economic successes and failures.
Natural Science (NTSS)
“Biology, Environment and Law,” Professor J. Berry
NTSS 303-01, MWF 1200-1250, CRN 51496
NTSS 303-02, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 51497
This course will explore the ways that the legal system protects and regulates biological systems in the environment. We will examine the profound influence that environmental laws have on species, ecosystems, and landscapes, and the effects of the regulation of air, water, and land in maintaining biodiversity, sustainability, and ecosystem health.
Social Science (SCSS)
“Survey of Economics,” Professor Professor W. Trumbull
SCSS 303-01, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 50941
Description Coming Soon!
“Adolescent Development,” Professor P. Johnson
SCSS 303-04, MWF 1100-1150, CRN 51117
This course explores human development with a focus on adolescents and their educational processes. Adolescence is a transition period that involves specific cognitive, developmental and physical needs. These topics warrant further exploration and reflection for those pursuing careers of all kinds, including but not limited to business, criminal justice, education, and the social sciences.
Wellness (304)
Elective (ELES)
“Personal Finance,” Professor W. Jones
ELES 304-01, TR 0800-0915, CRN 50802
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Personal Financial Management focuses on the application of basic financial tools and principles to the student’s personal life. Concepts and tools covered include: the financial planning process, liquidity management, debt management, asset management, and risk management. The course will also include retirement education and estate planning. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be prepared to create and manage their own personal financial plan. The primary deliverable at the end of this course and a major component of your final grade is an individual financial plan prepared by each student for themselves.
English (ENGS)
“Improvise, Adapt & Overcome,” Professor S. Heuston
ENGS 304-01, MWF 0800-850, CRN 50712
ENGS 304-02, MWF 0900-950, CRN 50830
This course will examine a wide range of written sources (fiction and nonfiction from the Roman Empire to the present) and films that deal with the central issue of the Wellness Strand: how to live a good life. We will read and discuss selections from classic works of nonfiction (including the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning) and fiction (including Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried) and films (such as Apocalypse Now, Cast Away, and Little Dieter Needs to Fly) alongside more recent nonfiction texts about facing and overcoming life’s manifold challenges. In addition to developing a familiarity with our course texts, students will become familiar with related research on aspects of wellness they can apply to their own lives.
History (HISS)
“A Good Life and Death in Chinese History,” Professor K. Knapp
HISS 304-01, TR 0800-915, CRN 50809
HISS 304-02, TR 0930-1045, CRN 51019
HISS 304-03, TR 1330-1445, CRN 51524
Over the three-thousand years of China’s recorded history, its people have long thought about how to live well and prolong life. Since death was viewed as a continuance of life under slightly different circumstances, Chinese simultaneously pondered how to die well. By reading translated philosophical texts, hagiographies, medical treatises, short stories, and diaries, we will see how one could lead a healthy and meaningful life, and perhaps even cheat death by attaining immortality. By examining death testaments, Buddhist scriptures, and archaeological evidence, such as tombs, grave goods, and excavated documents, students will ascertain how Chinese envisioned death and prepared the deceased for a pleasant existence, or even Buddhahood, in the afterlife.
Natural Science (NTSS)
“Human Diseases,” Professor P. Capers
NTSS 302-01, MWF 1200-1250, CRN 51498
NTSS 302-04, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51500
This strand course will explore human diseases and our body’s defense mechanisms to combat diseases. We will explore organs of the human body to understand the development, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disorders. We will apply this knowledge to explore disease transmission and disease prevalence.
This class is for you, if you have an interest in:
– Understanding how organs work in our bodies
– Understanding how diseases and disorders affect our body
– Understanding why certain diagnostic tests should be used to determine a disease or disorder
– Understanding treatments/therapies available for diseases and disorders
– How diseases are distributed in different populations
An Ounce of Prevention, Professor K. Zanin
NTSS 304-02, MWF 1200-1250, CRN 51498
NTSS 304-03, TBA, TBA
NTSS 304-05, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51500
What does it mean to have a healthy lifestyle? How can choices about things like sleep, diet, and exercise impact one’s chance of getting diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, or cancer? This course will allow students to explore the value of healthy living as it relates to disease prevention and treatment, with focus on some of the worst health problems in our society. Students will study the related organ systems’ normal functions, their malfunctions in disease, and the financial and emotional costs of chronic diseases to individuals, their families, and the healthcare system. Unhealthy habits can be fun, but are they worth the risk?
Social Science (SCSS)
“Sports Psychology,” Professor S. Nida
SCSS 304-03, MWF 1200-1250, CRN 51023
This course will examine a wide range of psychological factors relating to participation in sport and athletic performance, and to physical activity more generally. Particular emphasis will be given to social psychological variables affecting participation and performance and their relationship to the psychological well-being of the individual athlete, to include attention to sports fans and sports marketing. Two key topics addressed in the class – “exercise adherence” and “exercise and well-being” – are particularly reflective of this course’s place within the Wellness Strand.
Nature and Nurture in Psychology, Professor TBD
SCSS 304-04, TR 1330-1445, CRN 51027
Description Coming Soon!
HONORS Understanding Your Audience: Communication Theory & Research, Professor S. Fournay
SCSS 304-07, TR 0930-1045, CRN 51446
Description Coming Soon!
*Restricted to Students in the Honors Program
Sustainability (305)
Elective (ELES)
TBA
English (ENGS)
Saving the World in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Professor M. Livingston
ENGS 305-01, MWF 0900-0950, CRN 50719
Too little water in the rivers, too much water in the streets, forests on fire, air turned to poison … Throughout history humans have faced environmental disasters, and in this course we will look at how people have tried to save their worlds, whether real or imagined.
National Memory in American Westerns, Professor J. Leonard
ENGS 305-02, TR 1330-1445, CRN 51523
Beginning with the pioneer and memoir literature of the 19th century, continuing on the silver screen, and culminating in the revisions of the contemporary anti-Western, the Western genre and its derivatives have long reinforced elements central to American national mythology. Particularly in the post-frontier US, the project of sustaining these myths has largely fallen to iconic pulp stories and films from authors such as Jack Schaefer and Zane Grey and actors such as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. In this class, we will explore the shifting landscape of the literary American West in order to identify how the experience of the West catalyzed the evolving project of American national and cultural identity. In doing so, we will think through ways in which recent interpretations of the genre attempt to illuminate perspectives that have traditionally been suppressed or elided and consider the role of textual interpretation in resolving contemporary issues stemming from the legacy of the symbolic American West.
History (HISS)
“Changing American Landscapes,” Professor A. Mushal
HISS 305-01, TR 1330-1445, CRN 50810
In this course, students will explore changing interactions between society and the natural world, from pre-contact through the 21st century. From hunting practices to urban planning, agriculture to landscape design, and mining to adventure tourism, how have people shaped the landscape and environment around them, and how have they been shaped by it? How have attitudes toward the landscape and natural resources changed? How has changing technology shaped our relationship to the natural world?
HONORS History and Future of Infrastructure, Professor R. Giles
HISS 305-02, TR 1330-1445, CRN 51333
Description Coming Soon!
*Restricted to Students in the Honors Program
History of Modern Cities, Professor J. Neulander
HISS 305-03, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51530
Many of our current massive metropoles were no more than small settlements 1000 years ago. Some have only come into existence in the past century. This course will explore the creation of the modern cities across the world, exploring how they were constructed, how they were sustained through war, famine, prosperity, and peace, and how they became the large megalopolises we know today – like Paris, Shanghai, Chicago, and Dubai. We will explore questions about how the making of these cities shaped trade, migration, and environments, in the cities themselves, in their environs, in their nations, and in the wider world. We will begin to comprehend how and why cities grow, and how population centers can be sustained in both human-made and natural crises. We will explore larger questions of sustainability such as: What is the relationship between humans and the environment, especially in an urban environment? How has that changed over time?
Natural Science (NTSS)
Foraging Wild Plants, Professor J. Gramling
NTSS 305-05, TR 0800-0915, CRN 51501
NTSS 305-06, TR 0930-1045, CRN 51502
Since prehistoric times humans have foraged the landscape for food and medicine. Today that knowledge is no longer widespread. This is an introductory course in field botany where you will develop your foraging skills. A basic knowledge of plant biology will be established in order to confidently identify poisonous, edible and medicinal plants found in South Carolina. Students will learn the about plant taxonomy, plant identification and “reading the landscape.” Lectures will be combined with hands-on activities and foraging walks to create an active learning environment. The primary objective of this course is to learn about sustainable foraging practices and develop the skills necessary to safely forage the local landscape.
Extreme Weather and Climate, Professor W. Curtis
NTSS 305-07, MWF 0900-0950, CRN 51495
Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, heat waves, sea level rise. The Citadel, much like our nation, is susceptible to these threats, but what causes them and how do they impact the natural and built environment? Furthermore, how do we mitigate weather and climate hazards to make our communities more livable? In this introductory course we will explore what makes weather extreme and look into recent events in US history. We will synthesize the effects rising temperature and extreme weather have on people, property, and sustainability efforts by individuals all the way up to the US military. Extreme events will be observed and analyzed with real world data, including the Lt Col James B Near Jr., USAF, ’77, Center for Climate Studies weather station on campus.
Social Science (SCSS)
“Politics & Sustainability,” Professor J. Altick
SCSS 305-01, TR 0930-1045, CRN 51025
SCSS 305-02, TR 1100-1215, CRN 51119
Description Coming Soon!