Courses
HON 301-302 Modern Mosaic: Europe 1832 to 1939 6 credits
An interdisciplinary study in Western European civilization from 1832 to 1939, analyzing developments in history, philosophy, science, music, the arts and literature. Satisfies any two of the following GEP course requirements: HIS 101, 102, ENG 101, 102, or the Art/Literature GER/GEP requirement.
HON 303-304 Reason, Revolution, and Reaction 6 credits
An interdisciplinary study in Western European civilization from 1500 to 1832 analyzing developments in history, philosophy, science, music, the arts, and literature. Satisfies any two of the following GER course requirements: HIS 101, 102, ENG 101, 102, or the Art/Literature GER/GEP requirement.
HON 305-306 America: Myths, Images, Realities 6 credits
An interdisciplinary study of American culture from the early settlement years to the present, juxtaposing novels, films, historical documents, paintings, poems, legislation, and photographs. Satisfies GER/GEP English, Literature/Arts requirements. Students who have one semester of Western Civilization may use this course for the second History GER.
HON 307-308 Mathematical Models in Chemistry 8 credits
An interdisciplinary study of how scientists express problems and laboratory results in mathematical language. Topics include differentiation, integration, matrix operations, graphical representations and group theory, chemical reactions, bonds, thermodynamics, and nuclear chemistry. Two semesters satisfy three of the four-course University Distribution Requirement in Mathematics and Natural Sciences. One semester satisfies either one Math GER/GEP or one Natural Science GER/GEP course. For non-Mathematics and non-Natural Science majors only.
HON 309 Pens and Guns: The Literary Road to the American Civil War 3 credits
An interdisciplinary study of the links between literature and politics leading up to and occurring during the American Civil War, with emphasis on the ways American writers used fiction, poetry, and other literary forms to react to and to comment publicly upon slavery and the sectional crisis that threatened the nation from the 1840s to the 1860s. Satisfies the Art/Literature GER/GEP requirement, the upper-level requirement for history majors, the American literature requirement for English majors, and the elective requirement for American Studies minors.
HON 310 Women's Writing as Emancipation: Transatlantic Perspectives
from the Scientific Revolution to Suffrage 3 credits
This course explores how British and American women of the late seventeenth to early twentieth centuries used writing as a means of emancipation. Drawing on a wide variety of women's texts-narrative fictions, poetry, political polemics, conduct books, letters, autobiographies, social theories, sermons, etc-we will examine both the historical circumstances in which women found themselves and the literary production that resulted. Satisfies Art/Literature GER/GEP for all majors.
HON 311 Paradoxes, Problems and Proofs: Philosophical Issues in Mathematics 3 credits
Can a sentence be both true and false at the same time? Can a theorem be true if it has no proof? Can there be different sizes of infinity? Can a single solid ball be decomposed and reassembled to create two balls each with the same volume as the original? These questions all lie at the juncture of philosophy and the foundations of mathematics. This course examines the questions that have emerged in the 20th century about the nature of mathematical truth and the status of our mathematical knowledge. This is a genuinely interdisciplinary course that considers questions from both mathematical and philosophical perspectives. Satisfies third level Philosophy or Mathematics GER/GEP.
BIO 163 Unseen Life on Earth 4 credits
Are you aware that over half of the mass of living things on earth is in the form of life too small to be seen with the unaided eye? Unseen Life on Earth will examine the positive aspects of microorganisms and their role in the everyday events of humans. The course will also look at the negative impact that these microbes have on the world around us, such as their role in infectious disease and bio-terrorism. There will be a weekly two-hour laboratory in which these extraordinary organisms will be further studied, and students will discover some of their findings to be quite surprising. Satisfies one natural science GER/GEP requirements for non-science majors.
CLA 320 The Golden Age of Rome 3 credits
An interdisciplinary approach to the most interesting and important period of Roman history, the beginning of the Principate under Emperor Augustus. This course will include a thorough study of the history, major literature and art/architecture of the period. Satisfies the Art/Literature GER/GEP.
CLA 321 Sexuality and Gender in the Ancient World 3 credits
A study of the ancient Greek and Roman cultural constructions of gender through reading of legal, philosophical, medical, historical, religious, and literary works. We will examine the connections between the ancient ideology of gender and the legal, social, religious, and economic roles of women in Greek and Roman cultures. We will also compare this ancient ideology of gender with conceptions of masculinity and femininity in modern American culture. Satisfies the Art/Literature GER/GEP. Also satisfies Gender Studies requirement.
DSS 200 Information Systems: The Road to Rio 4 credits
Explore modern information systems in a unique multi-media approach. Find out how history has shaped the technologies that permeate our life and how these technologies will influence business and society in the century ahead. Participate in the development of a web-based journal of inquiry that will grow as the technologies grow. Satisfies DSS 200 for Business majors or minors.
DSS 220 Quantitative Methods for Business-Modeling Tools for Thinking 3 credits
This course is intended for students who wish to have an enriched experience in Quantitative Methods for Business. In this course the student will development an understanding of how to evaluate a business process. Additionally, the art of modeling, the process of structuring and analyzing problems so as to develop a rational course of action, will be discussed. The course integrates advanced topics in business statistics-two sample hypothesis testing, linear and multiple regression and forecasting, production and operations management-linear programming and simulation, and project management. Prerequisite: DSS 210 or equivalent. Satisfies DSS 220 for Business majors or minors.
ECN 450 Nationalism and Economy 3 credits
An interdisciplinary study of the relationship between nationalism and economics. Topics include economics and the rise of nationalism in 20th century Europe; nationalism and economics in the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires; Hitler and German nationalism; nationalism and Europe's colonies after World War II; nationalism in the post-communist world; and the breakup of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. Satisfies one GER/GEP Social Science course.
ENG 319 The Modern/Post-Modern Mood 3 credits
Two cultural movements-Modernism and Postmodernism-belong to the 20th and early 21st centuries and define our time. This course studies these two movements, mainly in literature (American, British, and Italian), but also in art, architecture, and music (classical and rock). The writers are Eliot, Woolf, Faulkner, and O'Neill (modernism) and Fowles, Donald Barthelme, Julian Barnes, and Calvino (postmodernism). Satisfies Art/Literature GER/GEP.
FRE 150 Language, Culture, Identity: Being/Speaking French 3 credits
This course, taught in English, will introduce first-year Honors students at Saint Joseph's University to undergraduate scholarship through substantive readings (both primary and secondary materials), research tasks, critical discussions and cultural experiences outside of class, including a museum visit and film viewings. The focus will be on the Francophone world, beginning with the development of French language and culture, and the construction of "Frenchness," moving through the colonial and post-colonial periods and ending with French-speaking communities as they function in today's global environment. We will read poetry, essays and fiction by Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Maryse Condé and Azouz Begag. We will also discuss and employ certain concepts of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. GEP First Year Seminar.
LIN 340 Communication in Social Contexts 3 credits
This course analyzes how people communicate with each another in various social contexts. We will focus on recent research topics in discourse analysis and explore particular contexts of discourse such as that which takes place in the legal field (police interrogations; naturalization interviews); family interactions (homecoming routines; ventriloquizing); childhood settings (apologies, sporting events), the workplace (medicine, business, media) and the classroom (teacher-student, student- student, teacher-teacher interactions). Special attention will be given to classroom discourse, the area of applied linguistics research that investigates empirical linguistic data from classroom interaction. We will focus on substantive issues addressed by the research and theoretical frameworks used to structure the inquiry. Satisfies one GER/GEP Social Science course.
MAT 132 Mathematics of Games and Politics 3 credits
This introductory course will examine several remarkable applications of mathematics to the study of basic problems in twentieth century social and political thought. Topics will include the theory of games and its application to the study of social conflict, the mathematical analysis of democratic voting methods and the quantification of power in a parliamentary system. Other topics will be added according to student interest. The course will provide a basic introduction to enumerative combinatorics, probability theory and the meaning of mathematical proof. Satisfies one mathematics GER/GEP.
MAT xxx Mathematics, Culture and Society 3 credits
This course will consider the relationship of mathematics to other areas of human thought, and to the society in which it develops. Several critical periods in the history of mathematics, from the beginnings of mathematics to modern times will be considered. While no technical knowledge beyond high school mathematics is required, this course will do a substantial amount of mathematics, as well as relating mathematics to other things. Satisfies one mathematics GER/GEP.
MGT 121 Organizations in Perspective 3 credits
This course explores the nature of the firm and the development of the employer-employee relationship in work organizations since the turn of the 20th century in the U.S. We will investigate and integrate the perspectives of various stakeholders (e.g., government, unions, community) as they relate to the manager-employee relationship, and demonstrate the effects of these stakeholders on individual and organizational well-being. Satisfies MGT 110 for Business majors or minors.
MGT 361 Introduction to Law 3 credits
This course is an introduction to the legal system and some of the areas of the law that have a significant impact on our lives are presented. The structure of the legal system and how it operates is described. Areas of torts, contract, criminal, constitutional, family, employment and others are examined. Current legal issues will receive particular attention. A Moot Court exercise is included. This course is highly recommend for students who plan to attend law school. Satisfies MGT 360 for Business majors or minors.
PHL 258 Authentic Self: Augustine, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger
This course will center on careful textual study of primary sources in philosophy/theology that deal with the analysis of human "fallenness" and self- recovery. A key element that will emerge is the role of the will: not just the theoretical freedom of the will, but the necessity to make a specific act of the will, namely to will to be one's authentic self. All three authors are major figures in and sources for the philosophical and theological traditions of the West. Satisfies third-level GER/GEP in Theology orPhilosophy.
PHL 336 Violence and Nonviolence 3 credits
A philosophical examination of violence, and its contrary, nonviolence, primarily from a moral point of view. Violence is a prima facie evil, perhaps justified as a "lesser evil." The rejection of violence in favor of nonviolent means of resisting evil is subject to evaluation as well, both in terms of principle and in terms of effectiveness. The course will focus on two levels: philosophical reflection on the ethical dimensions of violence and nonviolence in general, and analysis of some specific moral issues concerning the resort to violence (e.g., war, terrorism). Prerequisites: PHL 101, 154. Satisfies the third level Philosophy GER/GEP.
PHL 356 Religious Diversity 3 credits
The course deals with the ways in which philosophers and theologians have reacted to the fact of religious diversity. Is one religion true and the others false (Exclusivism)? Should the truth of one religion serve as the criterion for judging the truth of all others (Inclusivisim)? Are all religions true for the people who believe in them (Relativism)? Does each religion represent an independent valid vision of the truth (Pluralism)? The course will introduce students to a number of non-Christian religions. Special attention will be given to the writings of John Hick, a well-known defender of the pluralist view. Satisfies third-level GER/GEP in Philosophy.
PHL 357 The Uses and Abuses of Jesus in Modernity 3 credits
A representative survey of important 19th and 20th century philosophical and theological writings about Christianity and Jesus of Nazareth as Christ, with particular attention to the role of philosophy of religion and theology within modernity. The course will address a variety of statements and standards for articulating the meaning and identity of Jesus as Nazareth as: the Jesus of history, the Christ of faith, and the Christ-idea and archetype in Western tradition. And it will give special attention to the ways in which the texts chosen both reflect and transform the cultural, philosophical and religious contexts within which they appear. Satisfies 3rd level Theology or Philosophy GER/GEP.
PHL 434 German Existentialism 3 credits
A study of the German Existential movement, from its 19th century oriins in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and the Phenomenology of Husserl to its most prominent 20th century representatives, including Heidegger, Jaspers, Tillich and Buber. Satisfies the third level Philosophy GER/GEP.
PHL 438 Kierkegaard, Mozart and Desire 3 credits
Using Kierkegaard's famous analysis of desire as presented in Mozart operas as a point of departure, the course will survey the analysis and theories of desire in Western thought from Plato to Freud and contemporary psychoanalytic theory. Satisfies the third level Philosophy GER/GEP.
POL 320 Civil Rights: Law and Society 3 credits
Documents-based course on the origins, evolution and effects of civil rights in American law and society. Examines issues of civil rights over time, with special emphasis on civil rights from the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865 through the recent developments in defining civil rights in law and practice. Current issues in civil rights (including specifically civil rights issues related to race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation) also will receive significant attention, with their historical context. Satisfies one upper-division Political Science, Sociology or Social Science GER/GEP.
SOC 286 Violence in Intimate Relations 3 credits
Women and children have a higher probability of being seriously injured or killed by someone with whom they are intimately associated rather than by a stranger. This course will examine questions such as: What factors contribute to the prevalence of intimate violence in the U.S.? How does intimate violence differ across groups (e.g. by race/ethnicity,social class)? How are various forms of intimate violence (i.e., partner abuse, child abuse, elder abuse) interrelated? Satisfies one Social Science GER/GEP.
SOC 363 Philadelphia: In Black and White 3 credits
This course will explore the impact of race on social, economic, and political life in Philadelphia. Utilizing a socio-historical approach, it will focus on the work of black social scientists such as W.E.B DuBois and Elijah Anderson, who have documented the effects of race on Philadelphians in such diverse areas as housing, health care, employment, and family life. Original writings will be supplemented with video, guest speakers, and field work. Satisfies a social science GER/GEP.
SOC 3xx Cults and Culture: Sex, Gender, and Family in Cults/New Religious Movements 3 credits
This course will look at cults/new religious movements (hereafter referred to as nrms) in relation to the larger culture. We will look at the most recent wave of cults/nrms in our history, dating back to the early 1960s and continuing to the present. We will explore the sociological themes for an introductory sociology course but in the context of cults/nrms. In looking at cults/nrms sociologically, we will spend more time looking at sex, gender, and family patterns. Satisfies the Social Science GER/GEP.
SPA 427 Identity and Power in the Americas, 1350-1650 3 credits
In this interdisciplinary course, students will use both primary and secondary sources to examine the construction of identities and the relations between different kinds of power-for example, military, social, political-among three distinct peoples in the Americas, the Aztec, the Inca, and the Spanish. The first part of the course will address each of these three cultures in the era leading up to the Spanish exploration and conquest of the Americas. In the second part of the course, students will analyze changes in the construction of identity and power wrought by European-indigenous contact. Satisfies the Art/Literature GER/GEP.
THE 336 The Jewish and Christian Encounter 3 credits
Why has the relationship between Christians and Jews been frequently hostile? How have the two communities influenced each other, for good and for ill? Is there a relationship between the Nazi genocide and historical church teaching? Has there been improvement in the two traditions' relationship in recent decades? What are today's pressing challenges? This course will examine all these questions. Satisfies third-level Theology GER/GEP.