The College of Arts and Sciences is offering new courses for the 2010-2011 year.

Applied World Percussion (MUA 125, 225, 325, 425) is offered for percussion performance majors. Lessons include Afro-Cuban drumming, West and East African Percussion, and South Indian Percussion.

Chinese ensemble (MUE 349) is the study and performance of Chinese instrumentals. Students in this course will study the Erhu, a two-string bowed tube fiddle; the Xiao, a vertical bamboo flute; the Gugin, a seven-string zither; and the Muyu, a circular woodblock. Group rehersals make up a large portion of the semester, but reading and listening work will also be assigned. Material covered will be presented publicly. Students must receive the permission of the professor as a prerequisite to this course.

Song and Songwriting (MUS 225) emphasizes creativity and focuses on student songwriting processes. Students are expected to develop an understanding of basic music concepts, learn to apply that understanding to analyze songs of differing styles and cultural concepts, and use learned concepts to evaluate personal creative efforts. This course satisfies the general education requirement in the arts knowledge exploration area.

Jazz Pedagogy (MUS 406) is for students pursuing a major in instrumental and general music education. The course aims to prepare students for teaching the fundamentals of jazz theory, jazz history, basic improvisation, and jazz ensemble rehearsal techniques.

Statistical Methods for Biology (STA 228) is an introductory class for students in biology and other laboratory sciences which teaches the basic principles of experimental design and data collection. Students must have taken MTH 141 with a grade of 2.0 or higher or placement.

Global Rhetorics (WRT 360) explores historical uses of rhetoric in non-Western cultures. The class will examine contemporary contexts worldwide, including professional writing, education, and political debate. Students must have completed the University’s writing foundation requirement to take this course.

In addition to the new courses, many departments offer special topics (ST) and advanced topics (AT) in response to current issues or focus on specialized subjects. These courses may only be offered for one semester.

“Instead of creating a permanent course right away, sometimes a department will test out a new one under its special topics course number,” said Sandra Dykstra, assistant dean to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Fall 2010

CHM 480 #46426 – ST: Chemical and Biological Sensors

CIN 322 #46046 – ST: Star Studies – Barbara Stanwyck

ENG 400 # 42039 – AT: Literature of the Borderlands

HST 390 #40956 – ST: Piracy in the Atlantic World

PS 306 #46153, WGS 301 #46170, SOC 392 #46171 – ST: Women and the Supreme Court

REL 300 #45501 – ST: Overview of Islamic History

SOC 392 #45557 – ST: Criminological Theory

SOC 392 #45559, WGS 301 #45282 – ST: Contemporary U.S. Women’s Movement

Winter 2011

CIN 321 #14698 – ST: Film Noir

COM 380 #14153 – ST: Philosophy of Communication

COM 380 #14903 – ST: Dark Side of Communication

ENG 304 #14124 – ST: Ekphrasis and the Lyric Voice

ENG 401 #12139 – ST: Gender and American Drama

HST 390 #10107 – ST: Spanish Conquests

PHL 300 #14635 – Mental Causation

PHL 465 #10777 – ST: Evil

PS 306 #14899 – ST: Politics of Education Reforms

PSY 200 #14883 – ST: Evolutionary Psychology

REL 300 #13823 – ST: Religion and Film

REL 300 #14234 – ST: Introduction to Hinduism

REL 300 #14236 – ST: Islamic Texts

REL 300 #14301 – ST: Survey of Jewish History

REL 300 #13783 – ST: Politics, History, Culture of Israel

REL 300 #14731 – ST: Jewish Sacred Texts

SOC 392 #14857/WGS 301 #14856 – ST: Studies in American Girlhood

WRT 370 #14936 – ST: Rhetoric and the Video Game Culture