Courses

1410 American Studies

Grade Level: Sophomore
Length: Two Semesters
Credit: 0.50 per Semester
Prerequisite: None

Through investigations of primary and secondary sources, cinematic and still images, and selected works of literature, the American Studies course seeks to assist the student in developing an historical consciousness, or an understanding of the continuum and complexity of the human experience, which is really the foundation for serious integrative, ethical and critical thinking and thus lies at the heart of the IMSA experiment and mission. A multitude of research and presentation skills are developed through investigative projects centered in a conceptually consistent vision of the American Experience.

1421 Topics in World Studies

Grade Level: Junior
Length: Two Semesters
Credit: 0.50 per Semester
Prerequisite: American Studies

Modern culture, society and politics have assumed an increasingly global character, and this course examines the world's history and the major issues confronting its people. Selected topics include ideologies, political events, social trends, economic systems, and creative expressions drawn from major world cultures. Integrative thinking, critical analysis, research skills, and ethical awareness all play a role in students’ exploration of the human past.

1431 International Relations

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Spring Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisite: Topics in World Studies

Nation-states play a sometimes deadly but nonetheless “Great Game” to use Kipling’s expression. In the context of history and the present, the course will explore the spirit and players of this game, as well as the game itself. Students will be given opportunities to do better than heads of state in bringing resolution to some of the world’s problems. The course concludes with a brief look at truly global issues that no one state can address alone.

1434 Macroeconomics

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Fall Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisite: Topics in World Studies

Macroeconomics is an issues oriented course in which basic macroeconomics concepts and theories (scarcity, supply and demand, inflation, unemployment, fiscal and monetary policy) are presented through the exploration and analysis of specific political and social realities. The issues themselves are ordered so as to facilitate a logical and systematic development of macroeconomics principles, concepts and theories. An exploration of economic thought provides the background for debates, discussions, simulations, and research that will be the tools for analysis. Students will also have an opportunity to participate in a mock international currency and interest rate vehicle trading exercise that should give their newly acquired knowledge of macroeconomics concepts certain immediacy.

1435 Microeconomics

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Spring Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisite: Topics in World Studies

Microeconomics is an issues oriented course in which basic microeconomics concepts and theories (demand and consumer choice, the firm, monopoly, oligopoly, capital, interest, profits, labor unions and collective bargaining) are presented through the exploration and analysis of specific political and social realities. The issues themselves are ordered so as to facilitate a logical and systematic development of microeconomics principles, concepts, and theories. An exploration into the historical development of the modern corporation and capitalism provides the background for debates, discussions, simulations and research that will be the tools for analysis. Students will have an opportunity to guide the fortunes of a fictitious multinational conglomerate through the hazards of a simulated international business environment that should give their newly acquired knowledge of microeconomics concepts certain immediacy.

1437 European History

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Fall Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisites: Topics in World Studies

Our contemporary world was forged in the heat of Europe's twentieth century wars. By 1900, Europe stood astride the globe, and from this apex she slid into a fiery maelstrom of extremism, greed, and horror sucking the rest of the world with her. Fed by the blood of tens of millions, the fires of two great wars and the hammers of dictatorship destroyed Europe and changed the world. Phoenix like she rose from the ashes but now, yielding much to others, reclaimed only part of her former position of power and glory in a very different world. In this world, from East Jerusalem to England's once again green and pleasant hills, the White Man's Burden has made boom boxes everyman's bittersweet joy. The course will explore several dimensions of the birth, and development of the modern Europe, and its purported death at the hands of a global and non-national, nomadic power elite. Both the history and the historiography of these phenomena will be addressed. Moreover, the investigation of this specific subject matter will lead into an exploration of the nature of the historical process and will facilitate students in their acquisition of a historical consciousness, a prerequisite for leadership in any field.

1439 Political Theory

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Fall Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisites: Topics in World Studies

Political Theory will survey the most significant theoretical and philosophical contributions made to Western political thought starting with the Classical Greeks. Students will be required to understand and speak of the formulation of ideas, as they concern society and politics, over the past 3,000 years. In doing so the student can see the continuities and failures in the Western effort to balance the need for security with a desire for political and individual freedoms. The introduction to these specific political theories will also potentiate the student's experience and knowledge gained in the American and World Studies courses. Students will accomplish this by reading excerpts from the actual writers, looking at the historical background, and through extensive class discussion.

1445 Cosmos and Culture: A History of Astronomy, Cosmology, and Human Knowledge

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Fall Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisite: Topics in World Studies

Astronomy serves as the perfect vehicle for the examination of the history of science and its relationship with culture as a whole. Humanity has sought to explain the phenomena of the heavens for thousands of years, and those explanations have taken a variety of forms: mythological, philosophical, and scientific. In addition, many of the revolutions in thought that have transformed humanity’s views of physical nature have centered on astronomical and cosmological questions. This course will concentrate on four major themes: the development of astronomical thought; the interactions between astronomy, physics, and mathematics; the relationship of astronomy and physics to religion, philosophy, and art; and the links between dominant models of the universe and dominant models of political authority. We will trace these themes through six major units, beginning in Greek antiquity and ending in the eighteenth century universe of Isaac Newton and the Enlightenment.

1446 Genesis Rewritten: A History of Biology and Natural History

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One Semester (offered Spring Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisite: Topics in World Studies

This course will trace the varied attempts to explain the living world over the two thousand years from ancient Greece to twentieth century America. We will examine numerous religious, philosophical and scientific approaches to the questions of life and the complex interrelationships of living things. We will study the effect of the notion of divine creation on the way that life is understood in the Western tradition, and we will pay special attention to the influence of Darwinian ideas of random variation and natural selection on the way we view nature (and ourselves). We will explore the human drive to order the living world, and we will consider the effect of recent notions of dinosaur paleontology and asteroid impact on such systems of order and classification. Finally, we will consider the changing attitudes of humanity towards nature and the environment, from the ancient notion of nature as dark and chaotic to the growth of modern notions of ecology.

1447 War, Peace, and the Evolution of the Modern State

Grade Level: Senior
Length: One semester (offered Spring Semester only)
Credit: 0.50 Pass/Fail option
Prerequisite: Topics in World Studies

It is the intent of the course to explore the relationship of war and the evolution of the modern state in the Western world from 1450 to the present. Viewing the conflicts that have arisen between societies and nations it will show why and how they occur. Within the realm of military conflict, the varying influence of strategy, tactics, technology, economics, and social change in the attainment of victory will be assessed. Further, wars' impact on international relations and the use of force as an instrument of foreign policy will form an important part of the class. Students will learn that peace is simply not the void of time between wars, but rather crucial in understanding what causes war. By the end of the course, the student will have a clear grasp of the vital impact that war has had upon the evolution of our society and the institutions that govern it.