LAS - Liberal Arts Studies

A pass/fail lab for new students, covering issues including educational planning, study skills, academic policies, note-and exam-taking techniques and other topics crucial to college success.

The first-year seminar is designed to evoke questions, to develop habits of mind that lead to independent thinking, and to orient students to the academic realities of college. Discussion and small group work are emphasized. Reading and focused writing assignments will be required. The thematic focus for individual sections is determined by instructors; students rank their preferences and are assigned to one of their top three choices.

An interdisciplinary approach to analyzing information presented in American contemporary culture via a variety of media, including television, cinema, theater, popular print, and the internet. Introduces critical perspectives of such academic disciplines as sociology, communications, psychology, philosopy, and others.

The first of two foundational liberal arts courses introduces the breadth areas of the liberal arts and examines the importance and meaning of a liberal arts education that integrates learning across the disciplines. The course engages students in adult learning methods and emphasizes skills of critical self reflection for learning, reading for comprehension and deeper understanding, effective class participation, and thinking and writing at the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

The second of two foundational liberal arts courses examines Ottawa's liberal arts breadth areas in greater depth. Students acquire skills for learning in particular disciplines, including developing research questions and methods in the different breadth areas. Students learn to integrate and synthesize information as they read scholarly articles and develop a properly cited research paper. Prerequisite: LAS 20010 Seminar I:Exploring the Liberal Arts.

An examination of subject areas from different historical periods in which the idea of variation is perceived in the fine arts, with an emphasis on visual arts, music, and dance. Also explored is the concept of improvisation as variation as found in painting, music, and film, as well as an examination of common themes with their various interpretations. Crosslisted with MUS 30003 and ART 30003.

Proseminar is the first course in Ottawa University's degree completion program. In addition to introducing students to the four breadth areas, this course will address the task of educational planning, but do so in the larger context of self-examination in the course of which students will develop a learning autobiography in which they reflect on the history of their learning experiences (formal and informal) in relation to the four breadth areas, and assess the strengths and weaknesses of their preparation. Finally, the course will serve as an introduction to the Ottawa University program, allowing students to get a sense of the nature and level of the University's expectations and reintroducing students who have been away from formal education for some time to the character and rhythms of the academic enterprise.

Explores definitions and theories of environment and performance as well as the intersection, influence, interpretation, and creation of environmnets and performances through one another as seen from different historical periods. Theoretical frameworks are used to examine several performance experiences (theatrical, musical, artistic, virtual, and ritual). Crosslisted with THE 31003 IDS: Environment and Performance.

Introduces the art form of film and emphasizes careful viewing of American and International films of high quality.

An investigation of the body, midn, and spirit in self, culture and nature as developed by Ken Wilber and the Integral Institute. Students explore truth in the domains of philosophy, psychology, and eastern spirituality and consider ways to improve their well-being. Crosslisted with PHL 38123.

Interdisciplinary seminar investiages the social context of the environment and explores the major environmental issues facing our communities and planet. Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, including science, religion, sociology, and cultural studies, the outlines of the environmental debate are traced.Topics also include the examination of the consequences of our individual and collective actions for our future. Crosslisted with SOC 32003.

Present students with aspects of broad topic of globalization. Consideration of historical periods which experience surges in process of globalization. Recent globalization, immigration, trade and claims of proponents of economic globalization will be examined along with criticisms of this process. Cross- listed with UNV 32313 and ECO 32313.

This course explores the relationships among the subjects of knowledge, work and meaning. Students seek to integrate ideas and approaches of several disciplines in both individual and group projects.

Interdisciplinary seminar which examines myths, symbols, and ritual in Kenya as intersections of popular culture, spiritual life, political history, and sacred spaces. The course culminates in travel to Kenya, including field experience, original research, and reflective writing. Cross listed with ENG 33000 and REL 33000.

Interdisciplinary study of trauma, post-traumatic stress and memory in written and oral testimonies of the Holocaust. Combines psychology with literature and literary theory concerining Holocaust literature. Crosslisted with ENG 33003.

An examination of a variety of literary works from several genres, focusing on the portrayal of physical environments and the connections between these environments and human spheres of influence. This course will explore how human beings relate to the natural world, and how that relation influences the way we read texts and the world around us, Authors to be studied might include Leopold, Thoreau, Defoe, the Brontes, Wordsworth, Merwin, Snyder and Kingsolver. Crosslisted with BIO 33523, ENG 33523.

Course reviews the written and material record of continuous settlement in the Orkney Islands, dating back 5000 years. Topics include a select review of archeologoical evidence for Neolithic and Bronze Age sites as well as the contemporary socio-cultural structure of the Islands from a literary and anthropological perspective. Crosslisted with ENG 34000 and SOC 34000.

Course introduces students to American Literature, primarily twentieth century, with an emphasis on texts by and about those who are perceived as different. Topics include schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, post-traumatic stress, depression, gender identity disorder, and self-injury and are explored through novels, memoirs, and autobiographies. Crosslisted with ENG 34003 IDS:Literature of Difference.

States plans for current educational, personal and vocational goals, listing all completed and planned courses, outlining courses in major area of study and containing list of all courses fulfilling breadth areas in liberal arts education.

Interdisciplinary course combining communication studies, biology, and business management and their applications to disaster response. Topics include causes of disasters and their effects on the environment, economy, communities and businesses. Course includes simulated disaster exercise and possible American Red Cross disaster relief certification. Cross-listed with BIO 35206 and COM 35206

Designed around special theories, practices or interests of an individual or group of students.

Explores film to promote understanding of cultural diversity. Examines the power of media effects and the use of cinematography as a catalyst for public dialogue and political change. Evaluates the practice of visual learning techniques and digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool. Crosslisted with COM 36673, EDU 36673.

Questions of identity and self-definition, from agonizing to liberating, in the work of such writers as Dante, Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Kate Chopin, Simone de Beauvoir, Ralph Ellison and Anne Sexton.

A philosophical examination of the arts and aesthetic experience. Includes aesthetic theories of Artistotle, Kant, Nietzsche, and Grey as well as direct experience in the arts such as literature, poetry, painting, cinema, theatre, and performance art.

Interdisciplinary seminar which interrogates the literarary, artistic, and cultural representations of madness across culture and time. Crosslisted with ENG 37623.

An interdisciplinary examination of jazz and blues in the context of twentieth century American culture. Crosslisted with ENG 38023.

An investigation of the body, mind and spirit in self, culture and nature as developed by Ken Wilber and the Integral Institute. Students explore truth in the domains of philosophy and eastern spirituality and consider ways to improve their well-being.

An investigation of historical prerequisites and the meaning of existentialism. Readings include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Kafka, Rilke, Sartre, Heidegger, Dostoevsky, etc. Crosslisted with ENG 38223, PHL 38223.

Provides theoretical and practical resources to examine and understand international cross-cultural issues. Guides search for understanding and comprehension of the many dimensions of a culture, enabling greater insight into how societal considerations effect the conduct of social interactions both within specific organizations and countries and on an international basis. Includes analysis of how a country's history, culture, economic paradigms, legal system, spiritual heritage and social development influence business, personal and inter-cultural relationships.

Reflects on the Social/Civic and Value/Meaning breadth areas. Begins to view these areas and places within society in critical vein. Relationships are made between values and ways one acts upon these values in society. Question rights and responsibilities of individual and how these conflict with rights and responsibilities to society.

Course deals with classic and contemporary environmental ethics and focuses on the controversies shaping the relationship between humans and nature, both now and in the future. Topics include theories of intrinsic value of nature, wilderness preservation, deep ecology, ecofeminism, and nature friendly Native American spirituality. Crosslisted with PHL 40023.

Explores scientific methodology, religious methodology and the relationship between these domains of inquiry. Brief survey of the historical relationship between science and religion (e.g., Christianity and the rise of western scientific method, the Galileo affair, etc.) and contemporary controversial issues such as Big Bang and evolution. Crosslisted with BIO 41523, REL 41523.

Course is based on field experience with background reading related to the area/culture visited. The student will experience sites of cultural, historical and environmental significance; will read literature preparatory to the trip, and write reports based on prominent learning.

This interdisciplinary seminar gives seniors (classified as having earned 92 or more credit hours) the opportunity to bring their entire college experience to bear on a complex issue. Working in small groups (usually four or five), students first identify and define a significant problem or issue (e.g.child abuse, athletics and education, the energy crisis), and then articulate a way or ways to solve or cope with that problem or issue. The student group is given the major responsibility for the task. The tutor acts as a resource person and critic. Twice during the course, the group presents and defends its work before a jury of faculty and persons from the University community who have particular expertise in the areas of their research. The first presentation and defense occurs midway through the course, the second occurs during the last week of classes. Prerequisite: LAS 32513 Writing II: Integrating the Disciplines, senior standing (92 credit hours or more) and an approved learning contract.

As the final course in the LAS sequence, Graduation Review asks students to revisit the breadth areas first introduced in Proseminar exploring them this time in the context of globalization and cross-cultural concerns. As in Proseminar, students will respond in discussions and reflective papers to issues raised by readings and/or other media selected from their quality and relevance to the areas in question. Close attention will be paid to the students' communication skills as well as their mastery of the course's substantive content. As a culminating experience, Graduation Review will also ask students to assess their Ottawa program (both the major and the liberal arts components) in terms of the process of their education and in terms of their achievement of the Ottawa University LAS program outcomes.

Advanced course for those who have taken Introduction to Film. Pursues specific area within art form.

Students focus on a selected business perspective which culminates in a travel-abroad experience. Crosslisted with OAD 45570.

Students apply critical thinking and appropriate research skills to demonstrate ability to confront an integrated problem, issue, or circumstance in the liberal arts. Research will reflect learning acquired through the business or liberal arts track.