Extended Campus Online Undergraduate Course Descriptions

LSAL 2283 - Understanding Management

This course examines organizational planning, the process of organizational decision-making, the early research on leadership that focuses on personal traits, motivation in organizations, communicating in organizations, teamwork in organizations, the principles of organizations, and organizational control.

LSAL 2313 - Business Ethics

Business ethics is applied ethics. It is the application of our understanding of what is good and right to that assortment of institutions, technologies, transactions, activities, and pursuits which we call "business." A discussion of business ethics must begin by providing a framework of basic principles for understanding what is meant by the terms "good" and "right"; only then can one proceed to profitably discuss the implications these have for our business world. (from Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases)

LSAL 3113 - Leadership in Organizations

The general purpose of this course is to learn about contemporary thinking regarding leadership in organizations and the applications of these insights for growth as a leader.

LSAL 3133 - Conflict Resolution

This course is designed to give students the opportunity to understand human needs, behavior of self, and others. In this course, you will explore how conflict originates, processes by which it escalates, and alternative methods for dealing with it.

LSAL 3153 - Ethics in Leadership

This course provides an overview of applied ethics as it relates to leadership situations in organizations. An emphasis will be placed on the individual in the "new workplace," and students will be encouraged to make connections between the course content or personal lives.

LSAL 3173 - Goal Setting and Attainment

This course introduces students to the importance of establishing goals and the goal attainment process in business and in everyday life. These include perspectives of goal attainment in industry as they apply to production and to overcoming personal challenges.

LSAL 3333 - Motivation in Learning and Leadership

This course focuses on innovative strategy planning that helps businesses survive in our increasingly competitive markets; an analysis of the individual consumer as a problem solver who is influenced by psychological variables, social influences and the purchase situation; the number, size, location, and buying behavior of various types of organizational customers; and logistics activities and how they provide time and place utility to improve value to the customer.

LSAL 3513 - Integrated Marketing Communications

This course focuses on innovative strategy planning that helps businesses survive in our increasingly competitive markets; an analysis of the individual consumer as a problem solver who is influenced by psychological variables, social influences, and the purchase situation; the number, size, location, and buying behavior of various types of organizational customers; and logistics activities and how they provide time and place utility to improve value to the customer.

LSAL 3533 - The Changing Marketing Environment

This course is intended to introduce learners to several theories on human motivation which can be applied across several contexts, including both learning and leadership. A common misunderstanding is that leading and managing are one and the same. The main difference between the two is that leadership is about influencing people to follow, while management is focused on maintaining systems and processes. This course will be equally helpful to athletes, students, businessmen and women, those in the military, as well as individuals in leadership positions. Not all tasks that are required of us are inherently interesting. When this is the case, it may be necessary to find ways to motivate ourselves and others.

LSAL 3553 - Global Strategies

This course focuses on marketing and marketing strategies—specifically pricing and the integrative nature of marketing management.

LSAL 4123 - Quality Initiatives

This course will strive to improve the student's understanding of quality and how it affects the organization as well as their own lives. Each unit will discuss specific tools that can be used to build teams and a good workplace environment.

The objective for this course is to describe when and how to use check sheets, criteria rating forms, matrix diagrams, affinity diagrams, cause and effect diagrams, Pareto charts, process flowcharts, histograms, run charts, and control charts.

LSAL 4143 - Cultural Diversity

Managers, supervisors, training professionals, and educators must be able to effectively recruit, train, manage, and promote a culturally diverse workforce. However, few have been trained to do so. Throughout his book, Dr. Henderson presents ways to manage and value diversity in the workplace.

According to projected demographic changes in the United States, America's workplace will experience a dramatic change within the next decade. These changes will include increases in women, immigrants, and minorities within the workplace as well as higher proportions of individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 in the working force. This course is designed to promote a better understanding of diversity as well as prepare you for managing culturally diverse employees.

LSAL 4163 - Non-Profit Management

This course will provide an overview of non-profit management, operations, and leadership as well as the problems and environment unique to the various non-profit entities functioning in society.

LSAL 4203 - Decision Making, Problem Solving, and Strategic Planning

In this course, you will explore decision-making, problem-solving, and strategic thinking in a variety of organizational settings. You will study and practice methods of applied intelligence to improve your decision-making, problem-solving, and strategic-thinking skills.

LSAL 4263 - Corporate Environmental Strategies

This course examines the growing importance of environmental science and technology for business and industry. As government and corporate leaders have become more aware of the Earth's limits to support a growing population with current technology, interest has grown rapidly in the private sector to better define the role that environmental science and technology can play in the design and development of a sustainable future. In the past decade, for example, the pace of societal, institutional and technological change has been so rapid in the U.S. and elsewhere that several new academic fields, including industrial ecology, have been launched.

LSAL 4353 - Mediation History, Theory, and Practice

This course provides an overview of the history of mediation as well as an introduction to substantive meditation theories and models. The practice of mediation will be introduced by examining its origins in both the court and community-focused movements.

LSAL 4603 - Leadership and Governance for Social Entrepreneurs

Explores leadership and governance through the perspective of organizational directors and corporate officers. Examines the processes of vision and mission casting, the setting of organizational direction, strategic planning through executive leadership, and the creation of founding documents and policies, all with the "design culture" in mind. 

Sophomore standing and LSAL 4163, or permission from your advisor

LSAL 4623 - Budgeting for Social Entrepreneurs

An exploration of economics, finance, and accounting from the perspective of commercial, nonprofit, community service, and government service entities. Topics include basic accounting principles and the organization of financial statements, the fundamentals of financial investing, and the impact of interest on an organization’s planning.

Sophomore standing and LSAL 4163, or permission from your advisor.

LSAL 4623 - Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship

An exploration of social innovation and entrepreneurship presented through the historical examination of organizations that have utilized innovative methods and strategies to address social issues.

Sophomore standing and LSAL 4163, or permission from your advisor

LSAL 4683 - Development and Grant Writing

Presents a contemporary overview of the grant writing process. Topics explored include the search and select process, budget creation, proposal submission, and award management.

Junior standing or permission from your advisor.

LSAL 4700 - Case Studies for the Social Entrepreneur

Examines the foundation of social innovation and entrepreneurship. Theoretical concepts of social innovation are explored. Case studies are used to examine the history of organizations from across the globe. Lessons learned from history and theory are applied to real-world experience through written assignments and discussions.

LSAL 4700 - Economics and Finance for the Social Entrepreneur

Explores economics, finance, and accounting from the perspective of a social mission-driven leader of nonprofits, commercial community service, and government service entities. Explores fundamental concepts and ideas necessary for decision making and design of organizational structure and process. Examines basic accounting principles organization structure of financial statements, the fundamentals of financial investing and the impact of interest, and the underlying fundamentals economics.

LSAL 4700 - Exploring Race and Gender in Film

This course will examine the role of race and gender in film in the post-civil rights period. A brief comparison of race/ethnicity in entertainment during the periods of; 1) slavery, 2) Jim Crow, 3) Civil-Rights, and 4) Post Civil-Rights will be used as a basis for the examination as to whether entertainment in the Post Civil-Rights period has furthered or hindered the goal of racial/ethnic equality in America today. The Post Civil-Rights Period is the only time in U.S. history which has arguably been racially/ethnically inclusive of minorities. The goal of this course is to examine the effects of this inclusiveness. Specifically, we will look at how Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other minorities are portrayed in film. The gendered role of women will be examined through film and television using the pre-civil rights period as a comparison point for decades post-civil rights.

LSAL 4700 - Servant Leadership

Various traditional views of the word “serve” are associated with negative connotations, many times fueled by feelings of inferiority to the person or organization that you are serving. However, this course will investigate the idea (through literature, case studies, speakers, service learning projects, and class discussions) that to lead is to serve. This practical and applied approach to leadership is a unique leadership model because it grants any desiring individual the ability to lead, regardless of employment title, economic background, celebrity, personality, gender, ethnicity, etc. Collectively, we will examine the shifts from the traditional industrial revolution leadership models (autocratic/directive/hierarchical) to the emerging servant approach to leadership. Additionally, this course will furnish perspectives on the ethical components of servant leadership and the discrepancies between managing and leading. The course is strategically designed to challenge each student to enhance their understanding of value systems in decision making, the importance of understanding environment, and the necessity of leaders serving others.

LSAL 4700 - Strategic Leadership and Governance for the Social Entrepreneur

This course explores Strategic Leadership and Governance through the perspective of formal organizations' Directors and Corporate Officers. The learner will examine the processes of vision and mission casting, the setting or organizational direction, strategic planning through executive leadership, and the creation of founding documents and policies all with a “design culture.” The purpose of this course is to educate, empower, and inspire you to make a difference in your immediate world. The course provides a theoretical understanding of strategic leadership and governance through inquiry into the knowledge base contained in the literature and a practical understanding of strategic leadership and governance through examination of founding documents such as Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, minutes, and policy manuals as official records that enable the organization to pursue collective actions as a social mission entity. Our approach is to treat you as a practicing Social Entrepreneur engaged in innovative thinking, even if not currently in practical application. In addition, we hope you will form relationships with other social entrepreneurs as guides and companions for future knowledge sharing and support.

LSAL 4713 - Understanding Race in American Society

An exploration of the major theoretical perspectives used to explain racial issues in the United States. Identifies common racial/ethnic assumptions through an examination of how race or ethnicity is portrayed in the media with a comparison of current research findings relating to inequality.

Sophomore standing or permission from your academic advisor

LSAL 4713 - Understanding Educational Inequality in America

An examination of inequality within the American educational system from K-12 to higher education utilizing demographic data and analyzing current research on inequality based upon race, class, and gender.

Sophomore standing or permission from your academic advisor

LSAL 4753 - Class and Economic Inequality 

An examination of how social class and socio-economic status (SES) operate in American society, including how media and research findings depict economic and social inequality in the United States.

LSAL 4793 - Exploring Race and Gender in Film 

An exploration of race and gender in film during the post-civil rights period. Examines the effects of inequality and inclusiveness through the cinematic lens and analyzes the evolution of film relating to the depiction of race and gender issues. No student may earn credit for both 4793 and 5793.

Sophomore standing

LSAL 4920 - Exploring Race and Gender in Film 

One to three hours. Prerequisite: junior standing and permission from CLS advisor. May be repeated with change of content; maximum credit nine hours. Field experience in issues related to a student’s area of study. Students will gain knowledge through experiential and on-the-job practice. (F, Sp, Su).

Internship Manual

LSCJ 2283 - Introduction to Criminal Justice

This course investigates and analyzes the three major components of the criminal justice system: police, courts, and corrections.

LSCJ 3063 - Statistics in Criminal Justice

This course is an introduction to the basics of social statistics—the methods and techniques sociologists, policy analysts, and other social scientists use to summarize numeric data obtained from censuses, surveys, and experiments.

LSCJ 3113 - Comparative Justice Systems

This course provides a comparative study of the criminal justice system in six countries: England, China, France, Germany, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. It is designed to provide insight into the basic philosophies of justice and the many families of law (ancient legal traditions, civil law, common law, socialist law, and Islamic law) that exist among these countries. Students will learn how these current criminal justice processes evolved. They will also learn to compare each respective approaches to policing, courts, and corrections. Students will also analyze current and future issues related to international crime and criminal justice, including terrorism, transnational organized crime, and delinquency.

LSCJ 3133 - Theories of Criminal Behavior

This course provides an overview of theories of criminal behavior as well as current issues in criminology. Students will be exposed to biological, sociological, and psychological theories of crime as well as opposing viewpoints on important topics in criminology.

LSCJ 3173 – Deviance and Social Control

Students will be introduced to the sociological study of deviance and social control with a focus on the social construction of deviant behavior and the relative nature of such definitions through time and across cultures. Additionally, students will review current research on selected types of deviance to understand the individual and structural dimension of behavior as well as implications for policy and social control.

LSCJ 3203 – Criminal Justice Administration

This course will cover the development, proliferation, institutionalization, and goals of the components of the criminal justice system (CJS) and their administration. They include law enforcement, the judiciary and corrections—the so-called “three tiered” system. The final section will cover the ethics of managing justice and punishment.

LSCJ 3223 – American Judicial Processes

This course will acquaint students of criminal justice with the overall structure of state and federal courts, including jurisdiction, sources of law, civil and criminal legal procedures from initial pleadings through appeal, substantive civil and criminal law, and policy issues about the role of the judiciary in representative government.

LSCJ 4123 – Introduction to Forensic Science/Criminalistics

Forensic science is the study and application of science to law. Forensic science involves the relationship between the applications of chemistry, biology and other scientific disciplines and the criminal investigative and justice processes. Areas included are drug identification, serology, DNA, latent prints, firearms, toxicology, and trace identification. Students will be presented with theories and principles related to methods in the recognition, collection, preservation, and analysis of physical evidence. Actual forensic cases will be presented and discussed throughout the course.

LSCJ 4143 – Drugs and Society

This course will examine the impact of drug abuse on contemporary American society. Students will learn about drug regulation and legal issues, how drugs affect the brain and shape behavior, and about the various categories of drugs and their characteristics. The course will also focus on drug abuse prevention, treating drug dependence, and law enforcement programs to address drugs in society.

LSCJ 4243 – Police and Policing

This course provides a comprehensive introduction and overview of the foundations of policing. Students will be exposed to descriptive and analytical approaches to policing in America. It will provide information on the challenges that police face, what police do, and who they are.

LSCJ 4263 – The American Correctional System

This is a survey course covering the development of the field of corrections from its early American roots to the present. Included are discussions of the role and function of jails, traditional and modern correctional facilities, private/contract corrections, and probation and parole. Corrections is the third component of the system.

LSCJ 4403 – Criminal Investigation

This course provides students with the theoretical and practical aspects of criminal investigation. Students will develop an analytical and practical understanding of investigative methodology, the collection and preservation of physical evidence and will explore current crime-solving technology.

LSCJ 4423 – Cyberspace Security

This course provides an in-depth exploration of cyber crime and cyber security. It is an intensive study of the types of crime committed in cyberspace, a profile of offenders and current legal issues in cyberspace. Students will explore emerging issues information assurance and prevention of cyber crimes and examine the proper collection, preservation, and examination of digital evidence.

LSCJ 4443 – Juvenile Delinquency

This course provides an overview of juvenile delinquency in the United States, including current issues. Students will read both classic studies on the emergence of the juvenile system and current research on trends in juvenile delinquency.

LSCJ 4700 - Capital Punishment

This course explores historical, legal, ethical, and sociological aspects of capital punishment in the American experience. We will examine capital punishment as practiced from colonial times to present; the moral, legal, and political conflicts surrounding the American death penalty; the players and personalities in our capital punishment system; and representations of capital punishment in American culture.

LSCJ 4700 - Human Trafficking

We will study human trafficking from a historical and also modern perspective both in the United States and in the global context. Human trafficking is modern day slavery. There are more slaves in the world today than before the abolition of old slavery. Estimates show there are about 27-30 million people are enslaved in the world today. Human trafficking is a 32 billion dollar industry worldwide and is second only to drug trafficking with 36 billion dollar revenue. In this course, we will explore the different kinds of trafficking, affects of globalization, the demand, and what we (as citizens and government) can do in order to combat human trafficking.

LSCJ 4920 - Internship

One to three hours. Prerequisite: junior standing and permission from OU Extended Campus advisor. May be repeated with change of content; maximum credit nine hours. Field experience in issues related to a student’s area of study. Students will gain knowledge through experiential and on-the-job practice. (F, Sp, Su). 

Internship Manual

LSLC 3113 - Lifespan Development

Lifespan Development is a survey of human development from birth to death, drawing from multiple disciplines including biology, psychology, sociology, and medicine. The emphasis is on empirically-derived information about human development that may be of practical use to individuals working directly with others in a service capacity. Particular attention is devoted to issues of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development at all stages of the lifespan, as well as contextual influences on development.

LSLC 3153 - Ethical and Legal Issues in Health Care

This course will introduce (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2001) ethical frameworks to students; including the ethic of care, the ethic of critique, the ethic of justice, the ethic of community, the ethic of the profession and the best interest of the child to the students so that they might be able to critically examine and understand ethical motivation from different perspectives. Students will also learn the Nash moral languages frameworks to better understand why people would favor one framework over another. After students learn the ethical frameworks and why people tend to lean the way they do toward one framework or another, they will learn how these frameworks apply to ethics in health care.

LSLC 3173 - Human Services Administration I

This course will familiarize students with current theory and best practices in the administration of human services in both nonprofit and for-profit settings. Topics covered will include legal issues, effective administrative models, leadership in human services organizations, and management of human resources.

LSLC 3203 - Care of Infant and Child

This course will cover basic principles of child behavior and development and apply those principles to child care settings. Students will learn about normative physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and sexual development, as well as risk factors for early intervention and referral to professional services.

LSLC 3223 - Problems of the American Family

This course will cover societal influences that may have adverse effects on family life. Factors covered include poverty, divorce, employment, violence, substance abuse, and other stressors. Historical perspectives on the changing nature of the American family are also included, and strong emphasis is provided on evidence-supported strategies for coping with and preventing family stressors.

LSLC 3273 - Management of Infant and Child Care Facilities

This course delivers an in-depth study of the theory and practice of managing infant and child care facilities.

LSLC 3313 - Issues in Adolescence I

Issues in Adolescence 3313 is an investigation of the physical, behavioral, mental, emotional, and social changes that accompany growth and development during the adolescent years.

LSLC 3333 - Career and Life Development of Adolescents

The primary goal of this class is to provide discussion of current research on career options for adolescents. Students will be introduced to relevant research and be asked to provide critical analysis of assigned reading. The purpose of this analysis is to help adults develop strategic plans of action that will enable them to work with youth in order to help them choose a career and life course that is both realistic and satisfying.

LSLC 3373 - Management of Adolescent Residential Care Facilities

This course delivers an in-depth study of the theory and practice of managing adolescent residential care. The general format of the courses will be an accelerated pace for eight weeks at the undergraduate level. The course will be entirely online. The course will be divided into four units with the completion of a unit every two weeks.

LSLC 3403 - Issues in Geriatrics I

Geriatrics I is the prerequisite to Geriatrics II; both courses are designed to be taught at an undergraduate or adult education level. Geriatrics I is an introduction to concepts and broad themes which will be continued and developed further in Geriatrics II.

LSLC 3423 - The Biology of Human Aging

This course will introduce both natural science and social science methods used to study aging in humans and other creatures, a synopsis of the demographics of aging in human populations, provide terms and theories of aging, mechanisms of aging at the cellular level, and conclude with a review of how the body ages, system-by-system, listing the effects of aging in humans.

LSLC 3473 - Management of Geriatric Care Facilities

This is an introductory course on the basic concepts of and approaches to management of older patients and their informal care givers. It is designed to provide a foundation of knowledge for staff and directors of service agencies that care for older individuals. Topics include understanding the motivations for care delivery in old age, understanding the array of services available for geriatric care management.

LSLC 3953 - Lifespan Capstone Prospectus

In this course, students will critically evaluate hot-button research issues by "taking sides" on recent topics in Lifespan Development. Students will begin investigating practicum opportunities and will create a preliminary annotated bibliography and outline for their practicum case study. Assigned readings will focus on APA style. Students will learn about the university's view on academic integrity and how to avoid plagiarism in their case study.

LSLC 4063 - Issues in Lifespan Research

Discussion of philosophy of science and scientific method as it relates to research in health and human services (not a course providing instruction on how to do research).

LSLC 4193 - Budgeting and Finance

The course focuses on the leadership competencies necessary to formulate, execute, monitor, and evaluate fiscal operations of human services organizations.

LSLC 4203 - Parenting

Review of theory and research on styles and techniques of effective parenting for children and adolescents, including discussion of how contextual, cultural and individual difference factors impact parenting. Applications to real world contexts including counseling and case management services for children and families will be addressed.

LSLC 4313 - Issues in Adolescence II

This course presents an in-depth treatment of specific issues of importance in adolescence, particularly those that can enhance or interfere with healthy physical, emotional, or social development. Issues we will consider include substance abuse, aggression, delinquency, gangs, sex, romantic relationships, peer relationships, and peer pressure.

LSLC 4403 - Issues in Geriatrics II

Geriatrics II is a continuation of Geriatrics I; both courses are designed to be taught at the undergraduate, upper-division level. Geriatrics II is taught from a biological perspective. After completing the course, the student will have been: 1) exposed to the latest scientific thinking on why and how organisms age, 2) learned what it means to age successfully, and 3) exposed to debates over whether and how aging might be slowed, stopped or reversed. Ultimately, the goal is for students to understand the biological consequences of growing old so that they can recognize the false information about aging that is used to exploit the general public and especially the elderly. This knowledge should be particularly useful for students interested in geriatric medicine, gerontological research or for those who intend or already work for organizations that provide services to the elderly.

LSLC 4513 - Registered Behavior Technician

An exploration of the basic principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) designed to provide the knowledge base needed to work as a line therapist in ABA programs under the direction of licensed or certified personnel and to become a nationally certified Registered Behavior Technician.

LSLC 4700 - Lifespan Health

This is a core course for the Lifespan Care and Administration program. Lifespan Health will provide you with an introductory survey of the importance and principles of good health over the lifespan. You will learn about how to identify signs of incipient health problems and basic health promotion strategies. Assignments are designed to provide you with practical knowledge and application of health promotion across the lifespan.

LSCJ 4700 - Registered Behavior Technician

The RBT is a paraprofessional who practices under the close, ongoing supervision of a BCBA. The RBT is primarily responsible for the direct implementation of skill-acquisition and behavior-reduction plans developed by the supervisor. The RBT may also collect data and conduct certain types of assessments (e.g., stimulus preference assessments). The RBT does not design intervention or assessment plans. It is the responsibility of the designated RBT supervisor to determine which tasks an RBT may perform as a function of his or her training, experience, and competence. The designated RBT supervisor is ultimately responsible for the work performed by the RBT.

LSLC 4953 - Lifespan Study in Depth and Practicum

This is a senior capstone course consisting of a field practicum followed by a scholarly paper on a specialized topic/case study within the area of lifespan studies. The required paper shall be of the quality and extent comparable to a senior thesis. The study should reflect the student's competence and achievement in sustained research on a topic within lifespan studies.

LSTD 1003 - Introduction to Interdisciplinary Inquiry

Academic learning has traditionally been organized into different categories: the arts and humanities, the physical and natural sciences, and the social sciences. Each of these three areas has different ways of approaching knowledge and of creating new knowledge. In this course, we will look at how the disciplines differ and learn a bit about their ways of discovering knowledge.

We will also work to develop our skills in writing. Writing is not just a means of communicating; it is a way of exploring and thinking. When we write, we crystallize our thoughts and organize them and come to understand them better. Better writers are better communicators, better thinkers, and better able to take advantage of life’s opportunities.

LSTD 1053 – Mathematics in Liberal Studies

This course is designed to enhance the students’ ability to utilize mathematical tools in their daily lives. It covers such topics as use of statistics, evaluating others’ use of statistics, mathematics in finance, and use of exponents and logarithms in scientific calculations.

LSTD 1113 - Interdisciplinary Composition I

LSTD 1113 is the first in a series of two courses that help prepare students for interdisciplinary work by emphasizing writing and the conventions of academic discourse through natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. In LSTD 1113, students employ a variety of voices (first, second, and/or third) appropriate for diverse rhetorical situations. Students learn to think rhetorically, to understand and employ a variety of writing strategies, to conduct research, and to interpret, critique, summarize, and paraphrase texts. Student writing is based on conversation, memory, experience, reasoning, research, and collaboration. Students become more rhetorically aware by completing three major projects (five to seven pages each) and a public blog that targets diverse audiences (three one-page entries for each unit). 

The major projects are designed to provide students with practice in making appropriate rhetorical choices based on whether the writing context is informative (annotated bibliography, travelogue), reflective (memoir, biography, blog), analytical (travel literature, conversation analysis), or evaluative (rhetorical analysis of a text).

LSTD 1133 - Interdisciplinary Composition II

Writing is the foundation of most scholarly work in the academic community. To be a contributing member of the academy then, a student must be able to communicate what they have learned, researched, etc. in a manner that is accepted and engaged by the community. This course further develops a student’s ability to engage the community through the written word with a focus on using evidence from research and personal experience to engage an audience, hold their attention, and draw them into significant and meaningful dialogue. 

As students actively engage the academic community, they also become a part of the larger civic community. Rhetoric grows from a classical desire to create an educated polis. By focusing on the foundations of classical rhetoric, particularly the five canons and the rhetorical triangle, this course encourages students to participate in their academic and civic communities by engaging the writing process. 

This course completes the series of composition courses by emphasizing a student’s membership in the scholarly and civic communities. Through its emphasis on thinking rhetorically, providing evidence for assertions, creative thinking, and writing as a process, this course will prepare students for argument and research-based writing in academic interdisciplinary settings. Students will compose multiple drafts, respond to peers' drafts, sharpen their research skills, and improve their revising and editing skills.

LSTD 1153 - A History of the United States

A study of the United States may appear to you at first to be an impossible task. You recognize the geographic diversity of the country, the 500 years of history that have shaped the nation, the intricacies of representative government, the peculiarities of American capitalism, and the broad mixture of races and cultures that make up the American population. This large and complex nation might be studied from any one of the perspectives suggested here. You might focus on the geographic base and natural resources, trace the development of political theory, examine economic models or develop sociological paradigms. This course will guide you through a study of the United States by emphasizing the people of this country and the relationship of American citizens to the institutions they have created. Your study will include the efforts of some "great" men and women, but, for the most part, you will concentrate on the roles of ordinary people. You will investigate population diversity, politics, economics and social characteristics in a historical fashion, that is, with an eye to what has happened over time.

LSTD 1213 - Creativity in the Arts

In this course, students will learn about the literary, visual and performance arts by viewing, reading and listening to some of the most famous examples of these fields. Students will also learn about the creative process and what creativity means through the production of their own art. (Gen. Ed. Core IV-Understanding Artistic Forms).

LSTD 1313 - What in the World are the Social Sciences

This course discusses what comprises the social sciences and how we perform research in the different areas, including addressing ethical questions.

LSTD 1333 - Governing Ourselves

This course is an analysis of the differing ideologies governing autocratic vs. democratic systems of government, the structure of the United States government, and the role of extra governmental elements such as lobbyists and OU Extended Campus on the process of governing. In this course, students will be introduced to the study of government. The course will provide an overview of various types of governments followed by an in-depth examination of the American political system. The emergence of the American government, the three branches of the American government and the political process will all be examined.

LSTD 1513 - Introduction to Interdisciplinary Physical Sciences

This course emphasizes physics and chemistry, including topics such as laws of motion, elements of thermodynamics, wave forms, and properties, structure of atoms and the formation of chemical bonds.

LSTD 2023 - Strategies for Success

An exploration of useful skills and strategies for academic, professional, and personal success. Topics discussed include individual learning styles, emotional intelligence, time management, goal setting, effective listening and communication, organization, creative and critical thinking, interdependence and collaboration skills, and combating self-defeating patterns of thoughts and behaviors.

LSTD 2113 - The Humanistic Tradition: Prehistory through the Renaissance

In this course, which is the first part of the humanities overview, students will gain an understanding of what the humanities are, what areas of study are included in the humanities, and why this field is an important and interesting one. Because the basic definition of the humanities refers to a historical study of the great achievements of humans through time, each of these disciplines will be introduced within a historical framework, and by the end of the class, students should be able to trace the development of the humanities both chronologically and typologically. Students will focus on the humanistic traditions found beginning in the prehistoric time period, before writing, and end with the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe.

LSTD 2133 - The Humanistic Tradition: Renaissance to the Modern World

This course is a continuation of "LSTD 2113: The Humanistic Tradition from Prehistory through the Renaissance." In this course, students will gain an overview of what the humanities are, what areas of study are included in the humanities, and why this field is an important and interesting one. Because the basic definition of the humanities refers to a historical study of the great achievements of humans through time, each of these disciplines will be introduced within a historical framework, and by the end of the class, students should be able to trace the development of the humanities both chronologically and typologically. Students will focus on the humanistic traditions found beginning in the Baroque Age through the modern world. This course will be organized in the same way as LSTD 2213, with seven weeks to complete the textbook readings and its workbook assignments, and one week for the comprehensive exam or final project. Consult your instructor for more detailed instructions on these assignments and deadlines.

LSTD 2203 - Evil Acts, Religious Reasons

The course will examine the ways in which religious faith has been used to rationalize war, terrorism, ethnic cleansing and other evil acts. Using comparative religious study as a basis for inquiry, students will learn the five warning signs of imminent evil in the name of religion. This is an interdisciplinary course, drawing upon perspectives from religious history, sociology, education and religious philosophy.

LSTD 2313 - The Human Experience: The Role of Culture in the Social Sciences

A study of culture from a social sciences perspective, including investigating topics such as ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and personal identity within the context of being American.

LSTD 2323 - Human Groups and the Distribution of Resources

LSTD 2333 - Contemporary Social Issues

This course serves as an introduction to some of the social issues that we are faced within our modern-day society. It begins by introducing learners to differing sociological perspectives and addresses issues such as the consequences of the changing demographics of the U.S., gender inequality, the environment, and a look at utopian and dystopian societies. Students will review, ponder and write about how each of the addressed topics affects their lives either directly or indirectly.

LSTD 2533 - Science as a Process

This course will analyze and criticize the scientific method, design of experiments and collection, and interpretation of data in scientific investigations.

LSTD 2553 - Introduction to Interdisciplinary Life Sciences

This course focuses on life’s diversity and its unity through thinking critically about the natural world. Key concepts, current understandings, and research trends are highlighted throughout the course.r.

LSTD 2700 - Delivering Effective Presentations

Presenting in front of an audience is a skill that takes practice, tools and a variety of quality techniques. This course will identify the principles and elements of visual communication that enable you to create and deliver a well-designed and effective presentation.

LSTD 2700 - Humanities View of Cartooning

The purpose of the course is to encourage students to consider an alternative and long-standing form of human expression: the cartoon. Humor, as a human trait, is uniquely suited to the combination of funny art and funny words comprising a cartoon. Yet, an appreciation for the perishable and transient nature of human mirth can be gained when viewing archaic, out-of-style or obscure cartoons that once appealed to people as fresh, spontaneous or insightful. The exposure of truth and the leveling of human opportunity in a single panel or series of cartoon images are significant accomplishments to be appreciated by students setting out on life's journey where humor may keep them resilient. The cartoon summary of the U.S. 9/11 Commission and the Danish cartoons portraying Islam's founder represent two recent episodes where cartoons demonstrated their power and their danger. Cartoons can be powerful motivators, as noted in the U.S. legal system when Joe Camel was banned to prevent children from imitating his smoking. Momentous cartoon events enraging throngs are not necessary to fully demonstrate why a study of cartoons would be important to students. Students need to be aware of the subtle, daily allure of their favorite cartoons whether in the comic strip or selling something.

LSTD 2700 - Images of Persuasion: Images, Propaganda and Media

This course is the study of the messages in the images found in popular culture used to persuade individuals to purchase something, to believe something or to behave in a certain manner. The images will be examined to determine what they indicate dominant culture attitudes about gender, race, ethnicity, science, tradition and being "different."

LSTD 2700 - Life Cycle Nutrition

Life Cycle Nutrition is an online, special interdisciplinary course that introduces basic chemistry, physiology and research principles related to nutrition and focuses on the application of these principles to optimal health and wellness throughout all stages of the life cycle. There are no prerequisites required for this three-credit course.

The purpose of Life Cycle Nutrition is to provide students of all disciplines with nutrition knowledge that can be applied to the prevention and treatment of common disorders or conditions throughout the human life cycle.

LSTD 2700 - Paranormal Investigations

This course examines the ways in which scientists, psychologists, philosophers, and laypersons have investigated various phenomena related to the paranormal over the past 150 years. Using the rhetoric of science as an investigative framework, students will critically evaluate the evidence for and against the existence of life after death, analyze the debate regarding parapsychology's legitimacy as a scientific pursuit, and learn about the role of argumentation, rhetoric, and evidence in the development of scientific theory. This is an interdisciplinary course, drawing upon perspectives from communication, history of science, sociology of science, and philosophy.

LSTD 2700 - People and Differences

This course is intended as an introduction to the study of social inequality. It is based upon the assumption that social inequality is multidimensional and that a theoretical understanding is necessary for students to understand inequality's undesirable consequences (hence the content of Unit 2 is an overview of several theoretical explanations for social inequality). By the end of this course, students will not only have a better understanding of social inequality but also a desire to use this knowledge to close the gap of inequality among the haves and the have-nots, and to do away with discrimination in its various forms. The course is divided into four units, and specific topics addressed will include forms of social inequality, general explanations of inequality, consequences of social inequality and stability and change in the system of social inequality.

LSTD 2700 - Social Behaviors and the Tipping Point

This course will utilize the best-selling book, The Tipping Point, and other resources chosen by the instructor to investigate and evaluate certain ideas, observed trends, and social behavior in American culture. The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, utilizes real-world phenomena from business to education to fashion and media to explain human beings' social behavior and social epidemics.

LSTD 2700 - Understanding Music of the Western World

This course is a music appreciation course focusing on music of the western European tradition, sometimes referred to as "classical" music. Surveying the continuum of musical history from the Middle Ages through present time, the student will discover the elements of music (pitch, melody, rhythm, harmony, form, etc.), instruments of the orchestra, a musical vocabulary with which to understand and evaluate musical expression, and the lives and works of great composers.

LSTD 3003 - Interdisciplinary Inquiry

This course serves as the primary orientation for all undergraduate programs in the College of Liberal Studies. The students will be introduced to the concept of interdisciplinary inquiry, which is the foundation of the bachelor of liberal studies degree.

LSTD 3113 - Special Topics in Humanities of the Ancient World

In this course, students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes found concurrently in both Western and non-Western cultures from Antiquity through the Renaissance. This course consists of four parts that are divided both chronologically and thematically and focuses on different disciplines within the humanities.

LSTD 3133 - Special Topics in Western Humanities: Renaissance through the Modern World

In this course, students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes found concurrently in both Western and non-Western cultures from the Renaissance through the modern world.

LSTD 3153 - Foundations of Ethics in Liberal Studies

This course reviews ethical theory and issues in applied ethics. It reviews current issues while looking at both sides of each argument. Each unit contains a set of guiding questions which are used in order to direct the student to look at the entire ethical view of each issue. Many basic questions must be addressed in order to help attain a decision on each issue. This course is to give the student a chance to look at each issue in a broad sense while trying to develop your own viewpoint on each topic.

LSTD 3173 - Renaissance Art

The majority of the art made in Italy during the time of the Renaissance was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church for didactic, propagandistic or devotional purposes. Therefore, artists had to devise a method of translating biblical and apocryphal texts into visual images of great beauty. In this class, we will explore how artists created these images, and what style, subject, compositional devises, techniques, and materials they used to create such effective messages to the public. Thus, the focus of our discussion will be on explicating religious textual narratives and exploring how artists translated these ideas into visual form to create an effective message. The course will deal with painting, sculpture, and architecture, yet we will highlight well-known artists such as Giotto, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

LSTD 3193 - Art in Non-Western Culture

In this course, students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes found in non-Western art from the ancient world to the modern world. Specifically, students will gain an introduction to the art of a variety of non-Western cultures and examine the role that art history plays in the study of these visual objects. The course will be divided into four parts: African art; Asian art of India, China and Japan; Native American art of North, Meso America; and South America and the Pacific.

LSTD 3283 - Film Noir

An exploration of film noir as an art form through the perspectives of history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and technology. Topics include the intellectual and literary origins of film noir and the genre’s impact on film-making and culture.

Sophomore standing or permission from CLS academic advisor.

LSTD 3323 - Sleep and Dreams

Sleep and dreams occupy approximately one-third of our lives. This course is designed to review the history and current research regarding sleep. Theories of the purpose and significance of dreams will be investigated.

LSTD 3333 - Human Arrangements: Troubled Institutions and Problems of Inequality

This course will address issues that affect institutions from family through those that affect the national population, including health care, education, the economy, and the interaction of government with all such questions. The course also addresses problems that arise from inequality among groups in the society, including poverty, elderly and young, minority and majority, and gender concerns.

LSTD 3343 - Challenges in a Changing World

This course introduces students to challenges that people living in the world are facing today. These new challenges include perspectives of conformity and deviance as they apply to sexual behavior, drugs, crime, and violence. In addition, changes in population, environmental issues, and global issues will be addressed.

LSTD 3353 - Women and Consumer Culture

To stroll through a shopping mall, scan a newspaper, or flip through the channels on a television set is to confront the ubiquity of consumerism in contemporary America. Demonstrating the pervasiveness of consumption is easy. But making sense of consumer culture is a far more complicated and far more important task. And, as scholars, writers and critics have increasingly realized, gender is central to consumption. This course analyzes the relation between gender and consumption by drawing on captured the attention of scholars in the social sciences and humanities, in social and cultural history as well as scholarship in literature, cultural studies, economics, and anthropology. It also encourages students to apply the theory, method, and knowledge they have acquired from assigned readings and web-based research to their own lives and experiences.

This course will give students an opportunity to analyze women's relationship to consumption and consumer culture. At the end of the course, students will be able to take a position and defend it with respect to various controversial arguments or ideas about women's relationship to consumption and consumer culture.

LSTD 3363 - Ethics in Social Sciences

This course reviews ethical theory and issues in applied ethics. It reviews current issues while looking at both sides of each argument. Each unit contains a set of guiding questions which are used in order to direct the student to look at the entire ethical view of each issue. Many basic questions must be addressed in order to help attain a decision on each issue. This website purpose is to give the student a chance to look at each issue in a broad sense while trying to develop your own viewpoint on each topic.

LSTD 3373 - History of the American Public Intellectual

The American intellectual is different from his or her European counterpart in his/her simplicity and ability to communicate profound truths to the average citizen. This course examines the unique and diverse styles of four important Americans from four different eras in order to determine the impact these individuals had on society and posterity.

LSTD 3513 - The Dynamic Universe

This course addresses the evolution of the universe through consideration of the laws that govern its behavior. The course assumes that students have a basic understanding of classical physics, especially the concepts included in Newton's laws of motion, gravity, energy, momentum and kinetic theory of the behavior of gases. If you need to refresh yourself on these concepts, you should review the appropriate chapters in the text, An Introduction to Physical Science. These chapters are: Chapter 3: Newton's Laws of Motion, Gravity, and Momentum; Chapter 4: Energy; and Chapter 5: The Kinetic Theory of Gases. These concepts will be referred a number of times throughout the readings for this course.

LSTD 3533 - Ecology and Evolution

This course addresses the interaction of ecology and genetic alteration in bringing about biological diversity through evolution. This course assumes that students have a basic understanding of what constitutes an organism and how organisms perform the basic functions of living systems. If you find you need to review these topics, you may wish to look through Chapters 4-7 of Biology: Concepts and Applications by Cecie Starr, which is the primary text for the course.

LSTD 3573 - Chemistry for Changing Times

In this course, you will learn how to relate chemistry to your everyday life. The course will cover various topics that are useful to people and relate to the field of chemistry. The student will write summaries over each reading and end the course by writing a final paper that covers the ethical issues that come up throughout the readings.

LSTD 3953 – Study-in-Depth Prospectus

This is a preparatory course assisting students in searching for quality literature, critiquing literature, identifying and developing research topics, and improving the quality of academic writing. This class will help you write your Study-in-Depth, the capstone writing project all liberal studies students must successfully complete to satisfy the requirements for graduation.

LSTD 4213 - The Bible as Literature

This is a course in the Bible as literature – that is, we will study the Bible as we would any other work of literature, even though it is, in my opinion, the greatest work of literature ever written. To study the Bible as literature means to approach it without concern for the doctrines of any particular religion. For instance, we will not assume that the Bible cannot contradict itself; we will see if it does or not. If this approach makes you uncomfortable, this is not the course for you.

We will use the King James Bible in this course. More modern versions may be more accurate translations of the Hebrew and Greek in a few instances, but that does make up for what is lost in the beauty of the language. The Kings James version was compiled at one of the greatest moments in English literary history – the time of Shakespeare, Jonson, Webster and Donne (in fact, Shakespeare made an important contribution as we shall see when we get to the Psalms) – and is not only beautiful in its own right, but it has inspired a great deal of later literature and has been very widely quoted.

LSTD 4233 - Personal and Family Narratives

This course offers students ways of exploring their own and their family's past and, if they wish, with larger cultural and historical contexts.

The process of writing a memoir is complex, but it need not be difficult. A memoir is what you can remember, and in the course of completing these units, you will find that one memory of an event, location, or person will trigger many others. This is a crucial step, and even as an end in itself, it can be enormously satisfying.

Of course, it need not be the end of the process. Put into narrative form, memoirs are not only a way of passing information to others—children, grandchildren, extended family, and friends—but of understanding the story of one's life and of one's place in the context of local and even national history.

LSTD 4243 - Road Trip of the Mind

This course has as its primary objective the development of an understanding of various points of views and mindsets in the global community, with an end to developing writing skills, enhancing creative problem-solving abilities, improving an understanding of cultural diversity and conflict resolution, and enhancing one's awareness of how values, ethical positions, perspectives manifest themselves and how they evolve over time.

Road Trip of the Mind contains an analysis of how images, archetypal narratives and various types of "authority" exert a deterministic influence on readers and audiences and contribute to the "managing" of meaning. These processes can occur in overt ways, as in propaganda, or in more subtle ones, as is the case in films and advertisements.

At the end of the course, the student will have had several opportunities to examine perspectives that may be very different than his or her own "framework" and will have analyzed the process by which conclusions were reached and knowledge generated.

LSTD 4253 - Culture and Science in the Modern World

This course will investigate the relations between science and culture as it has developed in the modern world, from the time of Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, early in the 19th century, to the present day. Among the historical topics we will investigate will be the rise of modern science, skeptical rationalism and empiricism since the Enlightenment, and their conflict with the faith-based knowledge and inquiry that had dominated in Europe in preceding centuries; the perceived conflict between scientific reason and feelings in the Romantic period; and the attack on scientific "social engineering" from modernist culture in the early 20th century.

Our more contemporary concerns will include issues of science literacy and where people get their information about science, the nature of science as a process, and the nature and importance of evidence in science, the public perception of science, and the ways science and culture clash in modern society. Is it possible for science and culture to be compatible in today's world?

LSTD 4273 - Jazz and the Global Community

A course about jazz, its social history and its relationship to world cultures and the international community. Although jazz is no longer the most popular music in the United States, as it once was, its history and the issues surrounding its nature stand at the heart of a diverse America that has borrowed from cultures and traditions all over the world. Not only is jazz multicultural but it is also international; it has spread everywhere and has contributed to a developing global psyche.

LSTD 4283 - Socrates and Society

Socrates lived between 470 and 399 B.C. He stands alone as the first thinker in the Western tradition to focus upon reason as the cornerstone of human understanding. Although there are sketches of his character in scant other writings, we only know Socrates' thoughts through the writings of his student, Plato (427-348 B.C.). The bulk of Plato's writings are "dialogues" in which Socrates is a character who is intent upon examining the deeper issues of humanity. In these dialogues, Socrates' unique approach to solving problems, understanding the world and evaluating truth is considered unanimously to be the cornerstone of Western culture. This course will examine how Socrates approached problem-solving, the role of rational inquiry and critical thinking, and the value of philosophical wisdom, especially in the current world of conflicting ideologies and cultures.

LSTD 4293 - Art and Medicine

As a human being, you are surrounded by images and emotion. Health or wellness may be viewed from physical and spiritual aspects, each its own drama in life. How is medicine portrayed in art? What is your image of health? Can you draw, illustrate, paint, cartoon, sculpt, stain or photograph? Can art heal? These are but a few of the questions you will contemplate in this course where art and medicine come together to expose your talent and possibly enrich your spirit. Or you can simply appreciate art and do not have to be an artist! This course will allow you to discover some of the greatest artists of history as they subjected medicine to the pen and brush. You will consider the human face (your own and others in portrait). Lectures alternate with fun and practical assignments to release your muse. Art materials are listed for student purchase and basic instruction in art principals will be provided to get you started. Enjoy, learn and create!

LSTD 4313 - Global Security and Justice

This course is designed to help the student understand how governments deal with the problem of securing the "homeland." After the tragic events of 9/11, for example, the U.S. government created the Department of Homeland Security to deal with this problem on a national scope. This might suggest that the government had not dealt with homeland security in the past. Nothing could be further from the truth. The United States, like all societies, has engaged in homeland security since its inception. The advent of DHS was merely the first time that the efforts had been coordinated under one centralized agency. This class will examine what terrorism is, how America has traditionally dealt with homeland security and how that perspective is evolving. Once we understand what terrorism is, the focus of the class will be on how law enforcement and the courts have taken on the challenge of providing global security while ensuring justice.

LSTD 4503 - Stellar Evolution

This course is appropriate for natural science-focused undergraduate students or for anyone with an interest in astronomy and astrophysics. This course will cover aspects of physics, chemistry, and astronomy. This course will study the entire life cycle of stars through a descriptive point of view. Students in the course will also study the classification system used to sort stars by type and how relevant parameters such as a star's mass, surface temperature, radius, and evolutionary phase are determined. The cultural impact of stars, shaping mythology, and ritual will be examined in each unit.

LSTD 4533 - The Great American Prairie

Grasslands cloak central North America with prairie and plains extending across the U.S. and into southern Canada and northern Mexico, but scattered grasslands occur across the continent. Other native grasslands occur in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America, typically between 30° and 45° latitude. Grasses are, however, cosmopolitan – they occur in all terrestrial biomes, including forests and deserts, and on all the continents. The history and evolution of humans and grasses and humans and grasslands are closely intertwined. Three domesticated grasses (wheat, maize, and rice) provide about 70% of our species' calories. Rye and barley, along with the above three cereals, are important in brewing and distilling spirits. Our livestock consume grains and graze on grasslands. Grasses are also used to bind soils, as construction materials, and to soften the landscape. Many grasses, in turn, are dependent on human society for their propagation.

In this course, we will explore 1) the features of the grass family that permitted the origin and continuance of grasslands and the co-evolution of grazing animals and grasslands; 2) the ecology and geography of grasslands, especially the prairie and great plains of North America; 3) the relationships of early humans and the prairie and plains of North America; and 4) modern agriculture on the prairies of the U.S., its promises and perils. Another goal of the course is to provide a primer on ecology, environmental science, and evolution using grasses and grasslands as examples.

LSTD 4543 - Satellite Imagery

To introduce students to remote sensing systems and illustrate their utility in a diverse range of applications. Students will become equipped to understand and apply the appropriate aspects of remote sensing technology to a variety of disciplines.

LSTD 4563 - Weather and Climate

An introduction to energy balance, temperature, atmospheric moisture, cloud formation, static stability, precipitation mechanisms, winds, mid-latitude and severe storms, weather forecasting and climate. The course is designed for students who are not scientists.

LSTD 4593 - The Role of Genetic Engineering: Past, Present, and Future

It is likely that no other single issue will affect the future of your grandchildren than genetic engineering. This course will examine the role of gene manipulation in the past, present, and future. It will begin with descriptions of genes, evolution and fitness. Unit one will conclude with your own exploration of mate choice and how that relates to gene manipulation. Unit two will address the history of genetic engineering, its impact on and the ultimate fate of civilizations. You will conclude unit two with an exploration of the fate of your state in the absence of genetic engineering. In the third unit, you will explore modern genetic engineering and its role in crops, livestock, and humans. This section will conclude with your locating a genetically engineered object (food or human) in your community and exploring the role of this object. Unit four will address the scientific and political future of genetic engineering. You will conclude this section with a discussion of "Major Nelson's" syndrome and its consequences for genetic engineering.

LSTD 4700 - American Popular Culture

American popular culture encompasses a multitude of subjects and themes, from the early days of colonial America to social Internet networking sites such as Facebook. These topics can be studied from equally diverse points of view. In this course, we will attempt to define popular culture by examining the ordinary lives, common beliefs and values as well as ordinary practices of Americans. More importantly, we will decipher how these commonalities ascend from the ordinary and commonplace to the exceptional, remarkable and "popular." All of this will hopefully help us to understand what makes up American culture and sets us apart from the rest of the world. Some of the themes of this course will include style, literature, music, film, sports, television, media, politics and the Internet, among others. We will look at factors such as race, gender, social status and age, along with other catalysts and how they affect society. Popular culture provides a window through which we can view the social history of the United States and her diverse people in their everyday lives. The course will compare and contrast folk culture, mass culture, and popular culture and help us to understand how people use popular in the routine of their lives, but more importantly why they do so.

LSTD 4700 - Biodiversity Conservation

The world's biodiversity is declining at a fast rate due to human activities and population growth. This course addresses threats to global biodiversity and the need to conserve. Thus, students will learn about the extent to which human activities have destroyed the world's biological communities, and factors necessary for designing effective conservation management programs. Through the examination of the socioeconomic impacts on species distribution and preservation, the course provides a broad introduction to biodiversity conservation issues within ecosystems and man-made environments such as zoos, gardens, and aquariums. The course also examines the role human communities play in conservation programs and highlights the importance of social and ethical factors and government involvement in management strategies.

LSTD 4700 - Food and Society

Worldwide, food practices are not shaped by concerns of physiology and production alone. Culture, socio-economic status, sentiment, symbolism, marketing, and globalization also determine food selection and consumption. This course studies how what we eat both reflects and produces ethnic identity, gender, social boundaries, social status, health, and how we think about the world we live in.

LSTD 4700 - Law and Literature

When we say we want justice, what does that mean? What is the role of mercy, and how did William Shakespeare get mercy written into American law? Why do we both venerate and villainize lawyers, and what roles have literature and popular culture played in forming our conflicting attitudes?

This course examines the intersections between law and literature, both the legal themes of literature and the use of literature in the formation of binding law. The selected texts – several novels from different time periods, three different countries, and both male and female writers; two short stories; one play; one song; and one film – act as lenses through which students begin to consider the themes that permeate legal literature as well as the roles stories about the law play in society. Court opinions from state and federal courts demonstrate judicial use of literary references. The assignments do not relate solely to the units in which they are assigned. Rather, they reflect back on one another, as the themes run throughout the course, encouraging synthesis work and the ability to build toward broader analysis as the course progresses.

LSTD 4700 - Our Solar System

This course is appropriate for natural science-focus BALS students or for anyone with an interest in astronomy and astrophysics. This course will cover aspects of physics, chemistry, and astronomy. This course will study formation of our solar system and the details of each member from a descriptive point of view. Students in the course will also study the ongoing missions to each part of the solar system to see "science in action" and understand what impact that has on our culture. The cultural impact of the planets, comets, and meteors as tools for shaping mythology and ritual will be examined in each unit.

LSTD 4700 - Post-Socialist Neighbors in the Global Village

Since the mid-1980s, state socialism, once a world power, has almost completely disappeared. In this course we will study life under communism; the Cold War and the "fall of communism"; nations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia that attempted to change to capitalist economies and democratic governments; the global impact of China's growing market; the remaining Marxist holdouts; and the surrounding post-socialist transitions today.

LSTD 4700 - Print Culture, Digital Culture

LSTD 4700 consists of a brief survey of print culture and the history of books in the West from 1450 to the present and examines how the rise of digital culture in recent decades has revolutionized our sense of the possibilities of print and the future of the book.

LSTD 4700 - South American and North American Cultural Issues through Film and Literature

Whether people of different countries are negotiating with, marketing to or collaborating with one another, an understanding of the other's history – which is to some extent a shared history – and the current issues that another group is facing are essential to successful relationships. While everyone is becoming accustomed to hearing that we live in a globalized society, this does not mean that each country, and in fact groups within each country, no longer have their own histories and cultures. Although South American and North American cultural issues can never be fully covered in any single class, this course invites a method of study that uses essay, literature, film and the Internet to consider common origins, the current political landscape of South America, which necessarily includes differing responses to globalism and North America, and the ability of creative works of fiction to testify to a country's history and cultural issues. Through viewing films, reading, research and short writing assignments, students will engage with these issues.

LSTD 4700 - Spirituality and Medicine

This course may be of special interest to students going into a profession related to medicine and health care. However, although not every student who takes this course will be entering medical school or planning a health career in the near future, the subject is vitally important to every student. A person's view of the universe and how it came to be forms the basis for ideas about health and wellness, or more expansively, wholeness in life. A person's religious outlook or spiritual orientation sets the stage for his or her interpretations and thoughts about illness, disability, and death and how to get through life. If a student enters the health care field, not only will one's own beliefs be important, but also knowledge and appreciation for the beliefs of patients will be critical to helping the patient back to wellness or maintaining a healthy state. If a student does not plan a health career, nevertheless, the same appreciation for one's own beliefs and those of others will affect success in relating to others, whether the career choice is religion, law, politics, science, teaching, business or virtually any endeavor. This course will briefly introduce and analyze some images of spirituality in medicine, survey the major religions of the world and their views on wholeness, health, and disease, and consider some other religious and philosophical beliefs. The class will undertake a review of past and current research in the area of spirituality and medicine, gain exposure to resources available in conducting research into spirituality and medicine, learn a little about qualitative and quantitative methods of research, review institutional review board (IRB) forms, and design, write proposals and possibly implement research projects in targeted areas of inquiry in spirituality and medicine. Beyond this course, students may submit their completed research papers over research they envisioned and conducted through preparation in this course for peer review and possible publication..

LSTD 4700 - The Power of Place

The course introduces students to the different ways humans respond to landscapes. We will examine how cultural traditions instill ideas about landscapes and nature and how these ideas change over time. Nature is to some degree culturally constructed. But it is also quite capable to evoke powerful responses in humans. We will look at the dynamic relationship between humans and particular places in nature as historical, economic and social circumstances influence both.

The purpose of the course is to acquaint students with different perspectives on land, regions, and environment. The interrelationship of culture and landscape/environment is the central idea of the course. The goal is to provide a better understanding of how human societies emerge out of their particular places and, in turn, have an impact on those places.

LSTD 4700 - Vietnam, Culture, and the Cold War

This course focuses on the Vietnam War era and its effect on modern American culture. Attention will be given to how contemporary understanding of the Cold War has shaped our understanding of Vietnam. An American history course should be taken prior, but it is not mandatory.

LSTD 4920 - Internship

This course provides the student with an opportunity to gain experience by working with a company or series of companies in an internship conducted via distance methods, primarily via the Internet. The intern will perform tasks such as online research, market research, demographics analysis, analysis of competition and competing brands, trade conditions and financial transactions. The focus will be on the integrated process—from the inception of the idea to the completion of a final report. 

Internship Manual

LSTD 4953 - Study-in-Depth

This course is designed to assist you in the completion of your study-in-depth paper, the capstone experience in the bachelor of liberal studies program. The course will focus on developing your thesis statement, locating and evaluating references, writing and organizing your paper, and putting your paper into its final form, including the list of references cited. This course is faculty driven with full flexibility for the director of the study-in-depth to manage the task in accordance with the subject undertaken.