Course Descriptions

Course Numbering

The College of Wooster uses a five-digit course numbering system. The first three digits indicate the primary course number. The next two digits are the secondary course number and indicate whether there is a special focus for the course. For example:

The first letters are the department or program abbreviation. The next three digits are the primary course number (101 is the primary course number for all Introduction to Historial Study courses). The last two digits are the secondary course number. These two digits indicate that the special focus for this HIST 101 course is The History of Islam. A course with a given three-digit primary course number can only be taken once for credit unless specifically indicated otherwise by the department.

The following policy has been used in assigning primary course numbers:

• 100-level courses are usually introductory courses; some 100-level courses do have prerequisites, and students are advised to consult the description for each course.
• 200-level courses are usually beyond the introductory level, although many 200-level courses are open to first-year students and to majors and non-majors.
• 300-level courses are seminars and courses primarily for majors but open to other students with the consent of the instructor.
• The following numbers are for Independent Study: I.S. 40100 (Junior Independent Study), I.S. 45100 and I.S. 45200 (Senior Independent Study).

In addition to the regular course offerings, many departments offer individual tutorials under the number 40000 and internships under 41000. On occasion, departments will offer a course on a special topic as approved by the Educational Policy Committee, designated 19900, 29900, or 39900.

Abbreviation

In keeping with the general education requirements of the College’s curriculum
(see Degree Requirements ), course listings employ the following abbreviations:

W Writing Intensive (W† indicates that not all sections are Writing Intensive)

C Studies in Cultural Difference

R Religious Perspectives

Q Quantitative Reasoning

AH Learning Across the Disciplines: Arts and Humanities

HSS Learning Across the Disciplines: History and Social Sciences

MNS Learning Across the Disciplines: Mathematical and Natural Sciences

Except where otherwise noted, all courses carry one course credit.

English

Culture

A culture is a complex set of expressions and structures consisting of beliefs, expectations, actions, and institutions. Among the most important expressions of a culture are the texts that are written and read within it. These texts are deeply embedded in and  shaped by the beliefs and practices of the cultures in which they were first written and by the beliefs and practices of later cultures in which they are read and written about.

Text

Texts are integral to and shaped by cultures, but as parts of culture, texts significantly shape and change cultures as well. The courses in this category inquire particularly into how the reading and writing of texts contribute to changing and defining cultures and individuals.

Environmental Studies

Film Studies

First-Year Seminar

First-Year Seminar provides a unique intellectual opportunity for faculty and firstyear students to participate in a small, discussion-oriented, multidisciplinary course. The course introduces students to critical thinking and other academic skills that will be needed in subsequent courses, including Junior and Senior Independent Study. Students are expected to develop their abilities in writing, interpreting complex texts, constructing an argument, supporting the argument with evidence, and defending the argument orally. The course also requires students to appreciate and critique multiple perspectives, including their own. Students normally will complete the First- Year Seminar in Critical Inquiry in their first semester. Each year approximately 35 sections of First-Year Seminar are offered by faculty from departments and programs across the College. For information on the First-Year Seminar Program, contact the Dean for Curriculum and Academic Engagement.

French and Francophone Studies

Off-Campus Study

Programs endorsed by the department include:

Junior Year in France (Paris)

Semester or academic year program offering courses in a variety of disciplines both at the Sweet Briar center, and at universities and specialized schools in Paris. A limited number of internships in government or social agencies are available.

Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) in Nantes or Paris

Semester or academic year program offering courses in a variety of disciplines both at the Institute and at universities and specialized schools in Paris or Nantes. Possibility of teaching assistantships in English and and other internships. in businesses.

Wooster in Besançon

A one-semester program of intensive language study at the Centre de Linguistique Appliquée of the University of Besançon. A Wooster graduate who teaches at the Centre serves as the College’s agent there. Particularly appropriate for students at the beginning or early intermediate level in French.

Dickinson in Toulouse

Semester or academic year program offering courses in a variety of disciplines both at the Dickinson Study Center and at the universities and specialized schools in Toulouse. Possibility of internships in business, education, the arts, and applied sciences.

School for International Training (SIT)

Approved programs in Morocco, Madagascar, Switzerland, and Tunisia. SIT offers field-based, experiential programs with a variety of themes.

For more details, see the website of the Office of Off-Campus Studies.

Geology

German Studies

(Conducted in German unless otherwise indicated)

German Study Off-Campus

One option for fulfilling the one-year language requirement is to participate successfully in one of the programs described below. Students continuing beyond the 102-level are encouraged to ask a member of the department (at least three semesters in advance of scheduled study abroad) about summer, semester, and year-long programs available to advanced students.

Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) in Freiburg and Berlin

A one-semester or one-year program for juniors in good standing at the College. Students will take intensive language courses taught by IES instructors and a combination of IES tutorials and German-university-taught courses in a variety of disciplines as well as in German literature and history. Courses at Freiburg and at the Humboldt University in Berlin are conducted entirely in German and require a minimum proficiency of GRMN 250 or equivalent. Courses at Vienna are conducted mostly in English, and students with beginning German proficiency are usually eligible.

Wayne State University Junior Year in Munich

A year-long (or one-semester option) program for juniors in good standing at the college. Students will take an intensive language course offered by JYM staff and enroll directly at the prestigious Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, which offers a vast selection of courses in 150 degree-granting areas. The oldest intercollegiate study abroad program in Germany, the JYM is especially recommended for German majors. It offers a special independent study tutorial course, which can be counted for Junior I.S. credit in German.

Macalester Semester in Berlin-Vienna

A spring semester program for juniors in good standing at the college. The Macalester German Study Abroad program is a unique six-month program based in Berlin and Vienna that provides students with the opportunity to gain high proficiency in German and to immerse themselves academically, culturally, and socially in both Germany and Austria. Students will spend two months studying intensive German at the Goethe Institute in Berlin, before heading for Vienna, where they spend four months taking two program-specific courses, and two courses at the University of Vienna.

Study-Travel Seminar

A summer or one-semester program in German language and culture with a practical focus determined by the particular groups and institutions visited (theater, social organizations, hospitals, farms, etc.). Prerequisite: GRMN 20200  or equivalent.