CRN SUBJECT COURSE SECTION
ART 191 - Integral Arts
80714 ART 191 01
For new first year students only, this course will explore the integral nature of
the arts: how we live, record our life and world, and imagine our future. Whether
we paint, sculpt, act, sing, dance, or write, we have something to share. Often,
many or even all of the art forms work in concert to share their vision. This course
is arts intensive and is strongly recommended for those with an interest in the arts.
As students examine the intersections of art to art and arts to life, this course
will bring theory to life through experience and engaged collaboration. This course
is part of a triad that includes THEA 191 and MUS 191. All three sections collaborate
as a partnership to provide a rich arts experience as students and instructors from
all three sections interact in a dynamic exchange of energy!
CIS 195 Information Society at Work
11932 CIS 195 01
Driven by the technology that is making the news this semester, students will explore
the changes information technology has made in their lives and community, and learn
how computer culture affects their work, study, family, and play though a hands-on
technology approach. Using presentations on current IT topics, students are highly
encouraged to debate and discuss the ethical problems of technology advancement. We
will also discuss some aspects of business and what part CIS plays in business, as
well as what defines the College of Business and how it fits into the university.
Discussion topics will include: Why do we call it the information age?; Advancements
in the auto industry; How has IT changed the music industry?; Robotics and what part
they are playing in our lives; The digital divide; Wireless Technologies; Social Networking;
Cloud Computing; Distance Education; The Power of Information; GPS; RFID; and Google.
Students will take a hands-on approach with various technologies including: Webpage
Development - Learn how to upload and save files to the server; Use Google docs to
upload and work on files in teams; Use some of the current technologies that are available
for free - which will help students throughout the rest of their college career.
COMM 190 - A User’s Guide to the Mass Media
81383 COMM 190 01
An increasing number of media streams vie for your attention every day. But the messages
may not always be as simple as they seem. Learn to read between the lines and recognize
the nuance and subtext of various media. Take a look behind the curtain to see how
diverse motives, agendas and practices affect the media you consume and see how that
same media responds and reacts to pressures and trends from you, the consumer. Media
and culture are bound together in an elaborate dance. This course will help you understand
that dance and will make you a smarter consumer of media.
EDCI 191 - Teachers, Schools, and Society
80138 EDCI 191 01
80139 EDCI 191 02
This course offers an interdisciplinary examination of the ways in which public policy
debates about schooling reflect ideological differences in American society. During
our time together this semester, we will look at what “society” means and its influence
on schools and education. This will include the importance of evaluating the choices
we’ve made so far in our lives, especially with regards to our own judgments. Through
this experience, we will practice thinking critically, through reading, writing and
discussion, and consider options for the possibility of teaching as a career.
EDPY 190 - What is Education For?
82678 EDPY 190 01
In his 1990 book of essays, Wendell Berry uses the title to ask what seems like an
odd question: What Are People For? But, when we stop to ask ourselves this question,
we may realize that we have never asked it before, and that to truly live in this
world, we need to answer this question for ourselves. We may also realize that for
the education that we all pursue to have real meaning for us, we need to know what
we as people are for and how our education transforms us makes us the people that
we become. In this course, we will stop and consider Mr. Berry’s question and use
it to explore what we think education is for and how teaching and learning affect
our lives.
In addition to Mr. Berry’s essay, we will read a novel to help us see how education
utterly transforms the world that we see and how a limited worldview impacts our thinking.
We will also read articles, excerpts from books and watch videos and films about education,
teaching and learning that will promote deep thinking and discussion about who we
are and how our education helps us refine our definitions of self.
ENGL 190 - First Year Seminar in Literature
81322 ENGL 190 01
This first-year seminar’s topic is African American literature. We will read Alice
Walker’s phenomenal novel The Color Purple and view the film directed by Steven Spielberg,
then explore the south at the turn of the twentieth century through Zora Neale Hurston’s
classic Their Eyes Were Watching God. Alongside the fiction, we’ll discover spoken
word poetry—closely connected to hip hop—watch the poets performing it themselves
on HBO’s Def Poetry, and give it a try ourselves. Please see the course flyer! (link
to pdf)
ENGR 199 - Introduction to Engineering Practices & Principles
80407 ENGR 199 01
81694 ENGR 199 02
80409 ENGR 199 30 – LAB
81699 ENGR 199 31 - LAB
Introduction to the engineering disciplines, curriculum, personal and professional
development, teamwork, project planning, communication skills, and conceptual design
engineering. This is a required class for all students considering majors in engineering
or engineering technology.
ENVH 190 - From Black Death to Bioterrorism
80353 ENVH 190 01
80354 ENVH 190 02
80355 ENVH 190 03
This course uses current events to examine basic public health concepts as they apply
to the average U.S. citizen; critical evaluation of pandemic infectious diseases that
could affect the majority of the human population (influenza, HIV), vector borne diseases
(West Nile virus), bioterrorism disease agents (smallpox, anthrax), radiation, and/or
chemical exposures; and an assessment of the various ways that the public can be protected.
An essential course for any educated citizen, and of particular interest to those
interested in community health or pursuing a health-related major.
FIN195-30 - You and Your Money
FIN195-30 CRN 82781
Do you want to learn how to manage your money? Then this is the course for you.
With good money management skills you will be able to budget your money each month,
reduce expenses, set financial goals and control your debt. You will learn the good
and bad of credit cards and how to establish a strong credit score. This course will
also introduce you to topics about insurance, investing and making large purchases
such as a car or house. Having a sound grasp of money management will make your college
experience much more enjoyable as well as help you in the years beyond college when
you will be faced with many important financial decisions.
GEOL 191 - Geology, Landscapes, and the Human Psyche
82165 GEOL 191 01
How and why human spirit and culture is linked to the physical world.
This class will explore the physical world – its appearance, climate, and ecology
– and how this physical landscape affects human culture. The aim of this course is
to develop your sense of place from a geologic perspective, and to give you the understanding
to connect human culture with the surrounding landscape. Meet geology faculty and
learn about why all humans are affected by how the earth works! *** REQUIRED 4-day
camping and hiking field trip over a weekend in September, either to Panthertown national
forest near Cashiers, or to the Great Smokies Mountains National Park. All camping
gear is available through Base-camp Cullowhee, if needed. We will help you make these
arrangements. Dates TBA.***
HIST 190 – First Year Seminar in History
81513 HIST 190 01
81529 HIST 190 02
Human interactions with nature and technology raise unavoidable and often deeply unsettling
questions about our own place in the order of things. What makes us human? What
are the implications of our relationships with non-human others? How are the boundaries
between the human and the non-human constantly negotiated and renegotiated in ways
that shape our conception of what it means to be a human being? This course takes
up these questions through the lens of history of science and technology, examining
the complex practical and conceptual relationships we have with what is marked out
as non-human. We’ll look at everything from animals in the ancient world, to Dracula,
to the implications of genetic engineering in the present day. Our readings will include
original scientific texts and other primary documents, novels and short stories, and
historical accounts of human/non-human relationships. We will also examine films
and other visual media that depict human confrontations with the non-human. The main
course themes include the complicated and often blurred boundary between humans and
other animals, the implications of human relationships to non-human others of our
own making—both imaginary and technological—and the prospects of a post-human future.
JPN 190 - Introduction to Japanese Pop Culture
81743 JPN 190 01
The class will introduce some aspects of Japanese popular culture through following
topics; Martial arts, Cuisine and Animation. The class will be conducted in various
teaching methods including reading, writing, discussion, hands-on experience, and
visual aids.
LAW 195 - Contemporary Legal Issues
82805 LAW 195 01
This course will look at conflict resolution by evaluating litigation, mediation and
negotiation as a means to settle disputes. It will follow a dispute through the appellate
level and also introduce students to mediation and the skill set necessary to mediate
disputes. Finally it will offer a practical and easy approach to learning how to negotiate
effectively in a legal and business context.
MUS 191 - Integral Arts
80710 MUS 191 01
For new first year students only, this course will explore the integral nature of
the arts: how we live, record our life and world, and imagine our future. Whether
we paint, sculpt, act, sing, dance, or write, we have something to share. Often,
many or even all of the art forms work in concert to share their vision. This course
is arts intensive and is strongly recommended for those with an interest in the arts.
As students examine the intersections of art to art and arts to life, this course
will bring theory to life through experience and engaged collaboration. This course
is part of a triad that includes THEA 191 and ART 191. All three sections collaborate
as a partnership to provide a rich arts experience as students and instructors from
all three sections interact in a dynamic exchange of energy!
PAR 190 - Freedom, Culture, and Utopia
82657 PAR 190 01
This course will examine, from a historical-philosophical perspective, several utopian
visions in Western thought. We begin with a brief study of the Spartans and their
utopian experiment, proceed to Plato’s Republic, then examine Marcus Aurelius’ ideal
of the Stoic sage in his Meditations, look at More’s Renaissance Utopia, then study
some scientific and socialist utopian schemes (Skinner, Marx & Engels), consider some
feminist utopias, and conclude by looking at technological utopias and an ecotopian
vision. Along the way, we will raise questions about how these utopian schemes impact
human freedom, and also consider critics’ suggestions that utopian schemes seem to
end in dystopian disasters. Finally, we will learn how to examine all these ideas
through the philosopher’s lens of a moral vision that informs our understanding of
utopias and dystopias.
PSC 190- Law and Conflict Management
82046 PSC 190 01
This course is designed to expose students to conflict resolution and management skills
in the American legal system. The course covers the nature of interpersonal conflict,
disputes in the public sector, as well as traditional and non-traditional methods
of managing disputes such as coercion, negotiation, arbitration, mediation, and litigation.
The course requires study of case studies and/or participation in a group project
that exposes students to the interests of parties in real-world public policy conflicts
in the Western North Carolina region.
PSY 190 - Race and Prejudice
82222 PSY 190 01
As a psychological and cultural concept, race continues to have much influence in
contemporary (post-racial?) American society. In this seminar we not only explore
the concept of race from the perspective of psychology; we also move beyond psychology
to take a broader, social-science perspective on race and prejudice. Drawing on a
range of theoretical, empirical, and experiential resources in psychology, as well
as anthropology and cultural biology, we construct responses to the many questions
about race: How real is race? What is biological fact and fiction? What are the roles
of culture and ethnicity? How do we learn race and racism? Can racism be unintentional?
Is a post-racial society possible or even desirable?
THEA 191 - Integral Arts
80719 THEA 191 01
For new first year students only, this course will explore the integral nature of
the arts: how we live, record our life and world, and imagine our future. Whether
we paint, sculpt, act, sing, dance, or write, we have something to share. Often,
many or even all of the art forms work in concert to share their vision. This course
is arts intensive and is strongly recommended for those with an interest in the arts.
As students examine the intersections of art to art and arts to life, this course
will bring theory to life through experience and engaged collaboration. This course
is part of a triad that includes ART191 and MUS 191. All three sections collaborate
as a partnership to provide a rich arts experience as students and instructors from
all three sections interact in a dynamic exchange of energy!
Honors First-Year Seminars: Fall 2011
ENGL 190-HON - First Year Seminar in Literature: The Literature of Home and Belonging
81323 ENGL 190 01
As an introduction to some facets of “English” as a discipline, this Honors Freshman
seminar will explore different ways that “home,” “family,” and “a sense of belonging,”
are presented in short stories, poetry, essays, and film. For example, we will read
Barbara Kingsolver’s 2001 collection of personal essays, Small Wonder, as well as
Sir Thomas More’s 1516 fictional “novel,” Utopia, Khaled Husseni’s A Thousand Splendid
Suns, and Jonathon Safron-Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Short stories
and poems by American and international authors, and films such as A River Runs Through
It, The Joy Luck Club, and Little Miss Sunshine will provide other views and perspectives
in addition to an introduction to different literary genres. Further, the class will
engage in experiential and service learning projects ranging from climbing the Climbing
Wall to build community within our class, doing service learning projects together,
and perhaps helping to build homes for local organizations. Each student will also
do a “Family Heritage Project,” which involves an interviewing a family member and
doing an oral presentation. We will visit the Mountain Heritage Center to learn about
the history of WCU, Cullowhee, and Sylva, and we will help build homes with “Habitat
for Humanity.” Students will do a variety of writing assignments, from literary and
film interpretation to personal as well as researched essays.
ENGL 191-HON - Writing & Editing Imagine Magazine
88324 ENGL 191 70 Honors
Honors Tutorial - Imagine magazine, a publication of The Honors College, highlights
the research, service, and creative contributions of outstanding WCU undergraduates.
In this unique first-year seminar, students serve as the staff of Imagine magazine.
They conduct interviews, write and edit articles, and arrange photo shoots for this
award-winning publication. Open only to Honors students