LAS - Liberal Arts Studies

This one-hour, eight-week seminar orients students to the OU philosophy of education, outlines the expectations of academic life, and (re) introduces students to information literacy.  This course is required of all first-year students.

This course includes critical readings of and analytical writing in response to, representative texts from across the disciplines (e.g., humanities, social sciences, natural sciences).  Required of all students either fall or spring of their freshman year.  Fulfills OU writing competency requirement. 

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 foundation 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.

This seminar will examine the military, political, and human elements of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The goal of this course will be to illuminate the battles, soldiers, and political figures that played a significant role during this conflict. The course will also seek to situate this conflict culturally by examining, for example, the role of 9/11, the ways in which multinational corporations such as Halliburton provided a rationale for the war, and how U.S. support of Israel historically has been perceived in the Arab world, particularly in Iraq.

This course explores narrative elements extant within popular eSports titles-such as League of Legends, Overwatch, and Halo-considering their valence in popular culture from the mythologies of antiquity to the modern counterparts presented in interactive media. 

Engages students in exploring and understanding different ways of knowing through activities, readings, and discussion in four breadth areas. Students strengthen skills in reflective and critical thinking, written and oral communication, problem-solving, information literacy, and research writing as they explore knowledge and values in the interdisciplinary context of the liberal arts. Students apply new and experiential knowledge in everyday life as they learn to examine multiple points of view and evaluate sources.

This course will engage the different definitions of disability in a variety of sociopolitical and cultural contexts. From the beginning, this course will encourage students to become aware of their own personal values and beliefs as they relate to disability and societal perspectives. It explores how those who embrace "disability identities," emanating from their unique human experience, stake claims for psychological well-being and social change in the face of stereotyping and expectations of "normality."  Prerequisite: PSY 12053 General Psychology. Cross-listed with PSY 30155 Disability as a Cultural Variable.

This course unpacks the theme of human relationships -- romantic, filial, obsessive, and otherwise -- through the reading of such works as Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice', Louise Erdrich's 'Love Medicine', and Andre Aciman's 'Call Me by Your Name', viewed through the lens of history and shifting cultural values. Cross-listed with ENG 30223 IDS: Reading Relationships.

An examination of a variety of literary works written about baseball from its inception to the present, focusing on the ways the represent or call into question the social, historical, and political currents that produced them. Readings may include Malamud's The Natural, Greenberg's The Celebrant, and the poetry of former Kansas City Royals pitcher Dan Quisenberry.  Cross-listed with ENG 31100 Baseball Literature.

Understanding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and + identities goes beyond the wish to respect human rights. Such education is an essential step to contribute actively to the construction of an inclusive society. The exploration of this subject must be motivated by the wish to understand LGBTQIA+ as a culture per se, to discover its subcultures and to get acquainted with the main issues encountered by the members of this community throughout their lifespan. Through an evidence-based theoretical framework related to the field of psychological science, this course promotes the development of an academically informed cultural sensitivity with the hope that it will result in ethical decision-making for professionals of all disciplines.  Prerequisite: PSY 12053 General Psychology. Cross-listed with PSY 31454 LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Psychology.

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. Cross-listed with ENG 33523 Environmental Literature.

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

A study of the literature of social protest, emphasizing the relationship between aesthetics and politics, or the political purposes of literature. This course will examine how various authors assault the status quo of an often inhumane, brutal, and repressive society. Readings might include works by Richard Wright, Upton Sinclair and Nelson Algren. Cross-listed with ENG 34023 Protest Literature.

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.

A philosophical examination of the arts and aesthetic experience. This course explores theories of beauty and drama from ancient and contemporary theorists. Students apply aesthetic theories to analyze works of art in multiple domains from different perspectives. Cross-listed with ENG 37223 Aesthetics.

Interdisciplinary seminar which interrogates the literary, artistic, and cultural representations of madness across culture and time. Cross-listed with ENG 37623 Madness: Multifaceted Approach.

An introduction to basic concepts and tools used in online information research. Emphasis is placed on effective techniques for accessing and searching research databases, subject specific databases, and other specialized online resources. Strategies for critically evaluating information will also be discussed. 

An examination of key existentialist thinkers. Readings include Kierkegaard, Nietzsch, Sartre, and others. After a survey of existentialist philosophers, students explore works of art from an existentialist perspective.  Cross-listed with ENG 38223 IDS: Existentialism in Philosophy and Arts and PHL 38223 IDS: Existentialism in Philosophy and Arts

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. Cross-listed with PHL 40023 Environmental Ethics.

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. Cross-listed with BIO 41523 Issues in Science & Religion and REL 41523 Issues in Science & Religion.

In this liberal arts capstone course, students reflect on experience, knowledge, and skills in each of four breadth areas and apply that learning as they examine current issues and concerns in global contexts.  Students use critical thinking skills to recognize different values systems, cultural interpretations, and social constructs. They demonstrate research and writing skills in exploring a global issue.

Students focus on a selected business perspective which culminates in a travel-abroad experience. Cross-listed with OAD 45570 Special Topics: Global Business Perspectives.

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.

With an eye to clinical applications, this course will teach the main notions that define Buddhism as a spiritual system: karma, dharma, the origin and use of mantras, the 8-fold path, the psycho-physical nature of the self, the cause-and-effect law, the "world as a mirror", the intrinsic Buddha condition to all human beings, the four Noble Truths, the three treasures as well as essential definitions of existential aspects of life as suffering, happiness, altruism, love, success, fortune, etc.  This course will also propose the multiple potential to pose a challenge to students who take it to engage in self-reflection as a healing practice.  Prerequisite:  PSY 12053 General Psychology.  Cross-listed with PSY 49901 Buddhist Psychology.

Course reviews the written and material record of continuous settlement in the Orkney Islands, dating back 5000 years. Topics include a select review of archaeological evidence for Neolithic and Bronze Age sites as well as the contemporary socio-cultural structure of the Islands from a literary and anthropological perspective. This course meets the LAS capstone requirement.

As one of the LAS capstone courses, this class aspires to provide students with an introduction to a variety of written manifestos and documentary films that espouse particular diets. In the course of the semester, we will gain an understanding of dietary plans, both personal and collective, as well as an appreciation for the social and cultural forces that produce them. Texts may include 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', 'Food, Inc.', 'In Defense of Food', 'Forks over Knives', and a volume of essays entitled 'Know That What You Eat, You Are'. Cross-listed with ENG 49920 The American Diet. 

Religion and spirituality are an essential part of culture. Whether they are implicit or explicit, religious and spiritual orientations can affect our daily lives, including an individual's attitudes, motivations, cognition, emotions, and behaviors. Religious and spiritual perspectives also affect the way people express, suppress and regulate emotions, define themselves within the family system, experience their sexuality, conduct interpersonal relationships, plan their future etc. This course will examine religion through different theoretical approaches: neurobiological, psycho-dynamic, behavioral, cognitive, evolutionary, humanistic, existential, etc. This course will be research and case-study oriented and will consider measurements of religiosity and spirituality in a research and/or clinical context.  Prerequisite: PSY 12053 General Psychology. Cross-listed with PSY 49960.