Mar 29, 2024  
Undergraduate Catalog 2009-10 
    
Undergraduate Catalog 2009-10 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 
  
  • A-S 3200 - Interinstitutional Study


    Students may take classes at Davenport College, Kalamazoo College, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College through a cooperative program using this course number for credit toward a WMU degree. Information and enrollment forms may be obtained from the Registrar’s Office. Where credit toward the major or minor is desired, prior approval must be obtained from the student’s major and/or minor department. Repeatable.

    Credits: 1 to 12 hours

  
  • A-S 3900 - Arts and Sciences Seminar


    A variable topics course in interdisciplinary studies or other subjects that fall outside the traditional disciplines. May be taken as an elective or for credit in an Arts and Sciences major or minor by special arrangement with the department. Topics will be announced in the Schedule of Classes. May be repeated once when topic differs.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

    Credits: 1 to 4 hours

  
  • A-S 3990 - Field Experience (Community Participation)


    A program of independent study combining academic work with social, environmental, civic or political field work. May be used as elective credit only. Repeatable.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: A written outline of the student’s project, approved by a faculty supervisor, with approval from the office of the Dean.

    Credits: 2 to 8 hours

  
  • A-S 4960 - Writing-Intensive Mentored Portfolio


    A student portfolio will be developed in conjunction with a faculty mentor. The faculty mentor will aid the student in the development of the portfolio and will evaluate its contents. The portfolio may be Based upon information about their “life experience,” professional experience, credits from professional job training seminars and/or significant classroom projects. The course will include at least four significant writing experiences to meet the Baccalaureate Writing requirement. Mentored Portfolio credit can be used for all or part of the Professional Studies capstone experience. Students are required to seek advising prior to taking their first capstone experience. The course may be repeated for a total of six credit hours. Application forms are available from the College of Arts and Sciences advising office, the advising office at the WMU Regional Sites and on the advising page of the College web site (http://www.wmich.edu/advising.html). This course is approved as a writing-intensive course which may fulfill the baccalaureate-level writing requirement of the student’s curriculum.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: Approved application and permission of instructor.

    Credits: 3 to 6 hours

  
  • A-S 4970 - Mentored Portfolio


    A student portfolio will be developed in conjunction with a faculty mentor. The faculty mentor will aid the student in the development of the portfolio and will evaluate its contents. The portfolio may be Based upon information about their “life experience,” professional experience, credits from professional job training seminars and/or significant classroom projects. Mentored Portfolio credit can be used for all or part of the Professional Studies capstone experience. Students are required to seek advising prior to taking their first capstone experience. The course may be repeated for a total of six credit hours. Application forms are available from the College of Arts and Sciences advising office, the advising office at the WMU Regional Sites and on the advising page of the College web site (http://www.wmich.edu/advising.html).

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: Approved application and permission of instructor.

    Credits: 2 to 6 hours

  
  • A-S 4980 - Directed Independent Study


    A program of independent study (reading or research) that allows the student to pursue a subject that falls outside of the traditional disciplines. The initiative for describing the project, planning the method(s) of investigation, determining appropriate product or results, and securing the cooperation of a faculty member to supervise the work must come from the student. Application forms may be picked up in the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Office and must be approved by the Dean of the College. Approval is contingent on the merit of the proposal. Repeatable up to the maximum of 6 credit hours.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: Approved application and permission of the instructor.

    Credits: 1 to 6 hours

  
  • A-S 4990 - Cooperative Education and Practical Training


    Cooperative education, internship or practical training experience during a semester involves full-time planned and supervised work related to the student’s major or minor and is performed outside the department, unit or university. This work is to be summarized in a written report. Students enrolled in this course will be classified as having full-time student status for the purpose of loan deferments and insurance eligibility. Students may take up to a maximum of 6 credit hours in A-S 4990.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite:  Departmental approval.

    Credits: 1 - 6 hours

    Notes: May be repeated for credit.
  
  • AAE 2500 - Materials Science


    First course in the science of engineering materials. Relationships between microscopic structure and the mechanical properties of metals, polymers, and ceramics. Effects of environment on material properties.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: CHEM 1100 and 1110, MATH 1220 or 1700.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Cross-Listed: ME 2500
    Lecture Hours - Laboratory Hours: (3 to 0)
    When Offered: Spring, Summer II
  
  • AAE 2610 - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering


    Introduction to aircraft systems, including airframe construction and design, propulsion systems, fluid power systems, and auxiliary systems, such as cabin environment, ice and rain control, fire warning and control, and fuel systems.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: MATH 1220 or 1700 may be taken concurrently.

    Credits: 3 hours

    When Offered: Spring
  
  • AAE 3610 - Aerodynamics I


    A study of incompressible aerodynamics of flight vehicles with emphasis on the combined application of the basic theory and experiments for solving practical aerodynamic problems in the design of flight vehicles. Flow similarity, governing equations, potential flows, thin airfoil theory, lifting line theory, and basic aerodynamic measurement techniques.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: MATH 2720, (AAE 2610 or ME 3560), PHYS 2050; PHYS 2060.

    Credits: 4 hours

    Lecture Hours - Laboratory Hours: (4 to 0)
    When Offered: Fall
  
  • AAE 3710 - Aerodynamics II


    An introduction to compressible aerodynamics and boundary layer theory, including subsonic and supersonic flows over wings and bodies and viscous flows. Emphasis is placed on application of the basic theory for solving practical aerodynamic problems in the design of flight vehicles.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: AAE 3610; MATH 3740; ME 2580.

    Credits: 3 hours

    When Offered: Spring
  
  • AAE 4500 - Flight Vehicle Performance


    A study of flight vehicle performance with an emphasis on the effect of aerodynamics on vehicle design. Computer applications to the solution of the problems of flight vehicle performance.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: AAE 3710

    Credits: 3 hours

    When Offered: Fall
  
  • AAE 4590 - Flight Test Engineering and Design


    Analysis and design of in-flight experiments, excluding expansion of the aircraft’s flight envelope. Includes microprocessor based data acquisition system and electronic sensor interfacing. Laboratory projects emphasize the pre-test, flight and post-flight phases of flight testing with an emphasis on safety of flight issues.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: AAE 4500 and AAE 4600.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Lecture Hours - Laboratory Hours: (1 - 6)
    When Offered: Spring
  
  • AAE 4600 - Aircraft Stability and Control


    Analysis and synthesis of aircraft stability and control. Design of the aircraft control surfaces for different configurations to provide the required stability and control power. Man-machine interaction and effect on control surface sizing.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: AAE 3710

    Credits: 3 hours

    When Offered: Fall
  
  • AAE 4630 - Aircraft Structural Design


    Structural design of aircraft emphasizing structural integrity under imposed static and dynamic loads. Design considerations include weight, cost, and mission constraints.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: ME 3650

    Credits: 4 hours

    When Offered: Fall
  
  • AAE 4660 - Aeronautical Propulsion Systems


    Thermodynamics and fluid dynamics of aeronautical rotating turbomachines, including axial turbines, compressors, mixed flow, and centrifugal machines. Analytical and computational methods will be used to design and determine performance of aircraft propulsion systems.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: ME 2320; and (ME 3560 or AAE 3710).

    Credits: 4 hours

    When Offered: Fall
  
  • AAE 4690 - Aircraft Design


    Conceptual and preliminary design of aircraft emphasizing performance, stability and control, and total vehicle efficiency.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: AAE 4500 and AAE 4600 and ME 3650.

    Credits: 3 hours

    When Offered: Spring
  
  • AAE 4950 - Topics in Aeronautical Engineering


    A specialized course dealing with a particular area of aeronautical engineering not included in other course offerings. May be repeated for credit with a different topic for up to a total of six credits.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Departmental consent.

    Credits: 1 to 6 hours

  
  • AAE 4990 - Independent Study


    An independent study assignment available only by special arrangement with an instructor and approved by the department curriculum committee. A written report will be required and filed with the department on completion. May be repeated for up to a total of six hours.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Departmental consent.

    Credits: 1 to 6 hours

    When Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer I, Summer II
  
  • ACTY 2100 - Principles of Accounting I


    This is an introductory course in accounting, which includes an examination of the recording and reporting of business transactions, and the measurement of business income, assets, liabilities and equities. Emphasis is placed on financial reporting for decision-makers inside the organization.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 2110 - Principles of Accounting II


    A study of the role of accounting information in the planning and decision-making of business organizations. The course focuses on: financial analysis, manufacturing cost flows, budgeting, and planning for long-term financing and investing activities.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 2100.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 3100 - Financial Accounting I


    This course examines the underlying concepts of financial accounting. It reviews the accounting cycle, related accounting records, and the financial statements. Accounting principles and reporting requirements for current assets, plant and equipment, intangibles, and other assets are also studied.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites:  ACTY 2100 and 2110 with a grade of 2.5 (“CB”) or better.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 3110 - Financial Accounting II


    This course is a continuation of Accounting 3100. Accounting principles and reporting requirements for liabilities, long-term investments, and stockholders’ equity are studied. Other topics included are accounting for pensions, income taxes, leases, accounting changes, and the Statement of Cash Flows.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 3100.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 3130 - Accounting Information Systems


    This is an introductory survey course in accounting information systems. It includes consideration of issues such as transaction processing and transaction processing cycles, the use and effects of computers and other relevant technology on accounting, database and file systems, internal accounting and administrative controls, and information technology audits. The course emphasizes use of common business software, which may include spreadsheets, flowcharting software, communications, general ledger, and database management systems.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 3100.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 3220 - Managerial Accounting - Concepts and Practices


    A study of the accounting methodology and concepts that have been developed to serve managers in decision-making for planning and control. This course covers budgeting, standard cost variance analysis, incremental analysis, cost and profit analysis, relevant costing, and product costing concepts and practices.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: ACTY 2100 and ACTY 2110 with a grade of 2.5 (“CB”) or better.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 3240 - Introductory Tax Accounting


    A study of the federal tax laws that apply to business entities. The course focuses on concepts of income, deductions, and credits that apply to all reporting entities and emphasizes tax planning as well as tax compliance.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites:  ACTY 2100 and ACTY 2110 with a grade of 2.5 (“CB”) or better.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 4100 - Internship in Accounting


    Under the direction of a faculty coordinator, students obtain full-time, accounting-related employment. Participation is limited to available internships and competitive selection by the faculty coordinator and prospective employers. Students are required to write a final report. Each employer will provide an evaluation of the student. A student must be enrolled in ACTY 4100 while meeting the requirements of the course. This course must be taken on a credit/no credit basis and does not count toward the accounting major.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Written consent of the faculty coordinator.

    Credits: 1 to 4 hours

  
  • ACTY 4110 - Advanced Accounting


    The study of entities and special transactions not covered in Financial Accounting I and II. Particular emphasis is given to partnership equity accounting, governmental accounting, business combinations, reporting by parent-subsidiary consolidated entities (including foreign subsidiaries), and accounting for foreign currency transactions.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 3110.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 4130 - Advanced Accounting Systems


    This course examines the types of accounting systems used by business enterprises. It includes in-depth examinations of database accounting systems, including the analysis of information, database design and implementation, and the creation of applications.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 3130.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 4140 - Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting


    A comprehensive study of the recording of transactions by governmental units and the financial statements required by generally accepted accounting principles for governmental units. Governmental units are the basic unit of study; however, colleges and universities, healthcare entities, and other not-for-profit organizations are given brief coverage to illustrate accounting and financial reporting for all not-for-profit entities.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: ACTY 2110.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 4160 - Auditing


    A study of auditing of business and non-business organizations. Topics include audit risk, audit procedures during the planning and performance phase of an audit, internal control concepts, ethics and the legal environment, statistical audit tools, types of audit reports, auditing standards, and the relationship of internal auditing to financial statement auditing.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C” in ACTY 3110 and 3130.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 4220 - Cost Accounting - Theory and Practice


    A study of the use of cost accounting information within a planning and control framework. Topics include the information needs of managers, costing of products and services, cost allocations among departments of an enterprise, activity-based costing, the theory of constraints, cost of quality, budgeting, income effects of absorption and variable costing, transfer pricing, and performance measurement.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 3220.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ACTY 4240 - Advanced Tax Accounting


    A study of the federal tax laws that govern the transactions during a corporation’s life cycle. The tax effects of organizing, operating, making distributions, reorganizing, and liquidating corporations are analyzed. The differences in the taxation of corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies also are addressed.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Minimum grade of “C” in ACTY 3240.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: Open to Upperclass and Graduate Students
  
  • ACTY 4310 - Special Topics in Accountancy


    The study of special topics within the discipline of accountancy.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: ACTY 3100 with a grade of “C” or better, or Department Chair approval.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Restrictions: ACTY minor or major.

    Notes: Repeatable for credit under different topics.
  
  • ACTY 4320 - Special Topics in Accountancy


    The study of special topics within the discipline of accountancy.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: ACTY 3100 with a grade of “C” or better, or Department Chair approval.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Restrictions: ACTY minor or major.

    Notes: Repeatable for credit under different topics.
  
  • ACTY 4330 - Special Topics in Accountancy


    The study of special topic within the discipline of accountancy.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: ACTY 3100 with a grade of “C” or better, or Department Chair approval.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Restrictions: ACTY minor or major.

    Notes: Repeateable for credit under different topics.
  
  • ACTY 4340 - Special Topics in Accountancy


    The study of special topics with the discipline of accountancy.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: ACTY 3100 with a grade of “C” or better, or Department Chair approval.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Restrictions: ACTY minor or major.

    Notes: Repeatable for credit under different topics.
  
  • ACTY 4350 - Special Topics in Accountancy


    The study of special topics within the discipline of accountancy.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: ACTY 3100 with a grade of “C” or better, or Department Chair approval.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Restrictions: ACTY minor or major.

    Notes: Repeatable for credit under different topics.
  
  • ACTY 5980 - Readings in Accounting


    Directed individual study of topics not covered in other departmental courses.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Written consent of instructor.

    Credits: 1 to 4 hours

    Notes: Open to Upperclass and Graduate Students
  
  • ADA 2250 - Drug Use: Personal and Social Impact


    This course is designed to increase understanding of substance abuse, alcohol and other drug use through the public health disease model with an emphasis on psychological, physiological and social consequences of use and abuse. An overview of prevention, case finding and treatment strategies are provided.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: This course satisfies General Education Area VIII: Health and Well-Being.
  
  • ADA 3200 - Legal and Illegal Drugs


    To increase understanding of substance abuse; alcohol and other drug use is examined through the public health disease model with an emphasis on psychological, physiological, and social consequences of use and abuse. An overview of prevention, case-finding, and treatment strategies is provided. Open only to substance abuse minors.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3250 - Substance Abuse Diagnosis and Treatment Planning


    This course addresses the diagnostic categories for abuse and dependency across the spectrum of drugs of abuse. Emphasis is placed on individual-specific diagnosis and individual-specific treatment plans. Open only to substance abuse minors.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3260 - Substance Abuse Treatment Processes


    This course focuses on the continuum of care for substance abusers. Modalities of prevention, casefinding, detoxification, inpatient treatment, residential treatment, therapeutic communities, day care, intensive outpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, and aftercare are presented both in theory and practice areas. Open only to substance abuse minors.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3270 - Individual, Group, and Family Treatment


    This course provides an overview of individual, group, and family treatment modalities. Concepts, intervention, strategies, and specific methods of current treatment models are presented through lecture, assigned reading, handouts, and film. Included also are three sessions on demonstrating and practice of micro-counseling skills. Treatment focus is the employed adult whose job performance is affected by mental health and/or substance abuse problems.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3300 - Addiction and the Addiction Process


    This foundational course will focus on the various models and theories of addiction as well as the behavioral, psychological, physical, and social effects of substance abuse. In addition, students will be provided an overview of the various medical and mental health conditions that may mimic or coexist with addiction.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3360 - Clinical Approaches to Substance Use Disorders


    This course examines the various aspects of substance use disorder treatment processes and interventions. Students will learn about the development of an individualized treatment plan through the screening and intake process that addresses an identified substance use disorder, as well as other issues related to treatment progress. The importance of referral and service coordination with civic groups, agencies, and other professional or governmental entities to help address the individual’s needs is also addressed. Students will gain an understanding and an appreciation of the contributions of various addiction counseling models as they apply to modalities of care for individuals, groups, families, couples, and significant others.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3370 - Substance Abuse Treatment Strategies


    This course will introduce students to a variety of helping strategies to use with substance abuse clients. The course will focus on treatment services, medical and pharmacological resources, and crisis management.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 3380 - Addiction Assessment, Recovery, and Illness Management


    This course will introduce students to different philosophies, procedures, policies, and outcomes most generally accepted for the treatment, recovery, relapse prevention and continuing care of addiction. There will also be a strong focus on how to include all resources within an individual’s life system to help them with their addictions.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5200 - Family and Addiction


    This course provides students with knowledge on the effects of substance abuse on the family. Included is theory and practice regarding dysfunctional relationships, children of substance abusers, and resulting disorders.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5250 - Women and Substance Abuse Treatment


    This course provides knowledge on gender specific treatment of substance abusers. This includes physiological aspects of women, as well as cultural aspects and methods to enhance the treatment of women substance abusers.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5300 - Clinical Theory in Substance Abuse Services


    This course covers selected theories which form the foundation for Substance Abuse Services practice in specific areas. Students are expected to master the content as a basis for building foundation knowledge for applied practice. The specific topics are announced with each semester offering.

    Credits: 1 to 4 hours

  
  • ADA 5350 - Drug Testing


    This course explores the theory and practice of drug testing and its applications in both clinical practice and employment settings. The spectrum of testing ranges from field dexterity to gas chromotography. Federal requirements are reviewed for application in both clinic and work settings.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5370 - Constructive Confrontation and Referral in Substance Abuse Services


    This course provides students with knowledge of intervention strategies for active substance abusers. Emphasis is placed on strategic constructive confrontation techniques and effective referral processes.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5400 - Current Issues in Alcohol and Drug Abuse


    This course, taught in seminar, reviews basic and applied research advances in prevention and treatment of substance abuse. Emphasis is on bridging research advances to practice areas. The focus of the course is research published in the previous year.

    Credits: 1 hour

  
  • ADA 5410 - Group Home Treatment


    This course reviews custodial, milieu, and function aspects of group home treatment. Theories and practices are presented with emphasis on long-term treatment outcomes.

    Credits: 1 to 6 hours

  
  • ADA 5450 - Alcohol, Drugs and Aging


    The problems of alcohol, medication, and legal and illegal drug use, misuse and abuse among older persons will be discussed. Prevention, intervention, and treatment will be considered. This course is cross-listed with GRN 5450.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5600 - Clinical Practice in Selected Substance Abuse Services Areas


    This course covers variable topics in clinical substance abuse services practice. It is a skills development course which helps students to become proficient in specific techniques and procedures related to client service. The specific areas are announced with each semester.

    Credits: 1 to 4 hours

  
  • ADA 5650 - Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence


    This course provides the student with knowledge of the multiple relationships of substance abuse and violence. Specific foci are the relationships of substance abuse and domestic violence, child abuse, and other assaultive behaviors.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5670 - Legal Offenders and Substance Abuse


    This course provides the student with knowledge on the theories associating substance abuse with criminal and civil offenses. Specific focus is the treatment strategies and techniques related to the offending population and long-term outcomes of decreased recidivism.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5700 - Field Education: Substance Abuse


    A clinical, prevention, research, or administrative field experience meeting practice requirements in certification of substance abuse services. The field experience involves direct supervision by faculty and clinical supervisors.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

    Credits: 1 to 6 hours

    Notes: Graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.
  
  • ADA 5800 - Substance Abuse Prevention


    This course explores the multiple theories and techniques used in the prevention of substance abuse. The history and evolution of prevention is presented, as well as cognitive, affective, and behavioral strategies.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5850 - Student Assistance Programs


    This course provides students with knowledge of the theories and practices of student assistance programs. The course focuses on objective indicators of student involvement with drugs, intervention strategies, referrals, and follow-up.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5900 - Applied Alcohol and Drug Dependence Recovery Techniques


    This course provides the student with knowledge of self-help groups and formal relapse prevention strategies. Application of relapse prevention strategies is integrated into multiple aspects of the continuum of care.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • ADA 5980 - Readings in Substance Abuse Services


    Individualized, independent study and reading under guidance of a faculty member. Initiative for planning topic for investigation and seeking the faculty member comes from the student with consultation of the advisor.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and program advisor.

    Credits: 1 to 4 hours

  
  • AFS 2000 - Introduction and Foundations to Africana Studies


    Provides an overview of the origins of black people, the philosophical underpinnings of the discipline, the evolution of the field of Africana Studies, its theoretical and practical applications, and the holistic method of studying African peoples and their social evolution. Historically oriented, the course is designed to be interpretive rather than chronological. The course covers the African civilization in the western hemisphere, including the United States, folklore, mythology, customs, rise of Black nationalism, role of black consciousness, and present day alternatives.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 2100 - Comparative Approaches to Forms of Black Consciousness


    This course focuses on the history of Black consciousness in the African Diaspora from the seventeenth to twentieth century. It is concerned with forms of Black expression and social action as they are manifested in specific historical, cultural, and political contexts using comparative approaches. Some of the themes include Africa in African American thought and culture, naming and identity, feminism and gender, movement and migration, and the rhetoric of freedom in Black ideology.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 2140 - Black Religion and Liberation


    This course is designed to introduce students to the social, political, and theological sources that inform Black Theology. In doi8ng so, the course emphasizes the role of Old Testament motifs in the social construction of black theology. Students will address the writings and interpretations of prominent black theologians and activists on the subject of liberation, faith and blackness. A primary component of this course centers on how race, class, and faith impact an individual, the community, and a nation’s understanding of God and divine redemption. In essence the course is an introduction to what liberation theologians term the “God of the Oppressed.” Students will have an opportunity to critically analyze, for example, the image of the Black Jesus and the Black Virgin Mary.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 2230 - African American Literature/Criticism and Culture


    This course is designed both to introduce students to key issues, themes, and methods in African American literature/criticism and culture as well as to pique interest in an effort to encourage further study of the discipline. It surveys texts by African American authors and examines the relationship between the literature, criticism, and theories serving to explain it.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: This course satisfies General Education Area III: The United States: Cultures and Issues.
  
  • AFS 2240 - Africana Autobiography


    This course will examine autobiographies and autobiographical novels from different parts of Africa and the United States. Some of the texts in the course will refer to a remote period of the African and African-American experience, while others will refer to the current developments in Africa and the United States. Through these texts, an attempt will be make to understand and assess the African and African-American experience, past and present.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: ENGL 1050.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 2250 - African Storytellers as Traditional Historians


    To understand Africa’s past from the perspectives of the African storytellers, we must understand their art and their ability to cross boundaries between the present and the past, as well as understand how they fuse fact and fiction at the boundaries of myth and history, where transformations occur. This is the area where fact and fiction become endowed with meaning. What makes the narration of past artistically engaging and emotionally evocative is the metaphorical center, “the poem in the story.” Drawing on the art of storytelling, this course will examine Africa’s past through myths, epics, and local African stories.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 2350 - Black Majorities in the Caribbean and Latin America


    This course will review basic (social history) literature from the Caribbean, Central and South America to determine impact of Black majorities a) on the societies, b) on construction of collective identities, c) on memories that mobilize them, and d) on processes of making community despite displacement. These questions will be applied to a representative territory from each language group in the Americas to discuss unequal power relations that can then be compared with US/Canada.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 2800 - Topics and Themes in Africana Studies


    This course builds upon the African diaspora experiences through selected topics and themes that address complex social and historical issues such as gender, politics, economics, slavery, civil/human rights, affirmative action, sexual identity/orientation, lynching, genocide, gentrification, cultural mutilation, and modes of cultural production. The course will interrogate theories of ethnicity, diversity, multiculturalism, colonialism/post-colonialism, modernism/post-modernism, structuralism/post-structuralism in tandem with the proposed topic(s) and theme(s) being examined. The course is repeatable under a different topic.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3000 - Black Experience: From the African Beginnings to 1865


    This course will examine the myriad patterns of adaptation and adjustments made by the enslaved Africans and free people of color to the continuing oppressive character of American Society prior to 1865. Slave narratives and abolitionists tracts written by freed people reveal much about the African-Americans’ interpretation of their presence in the New World. The Black presence created a commonality of experience, the characteristics of which became and remain a distinctive American co-culture. It aims to examine how the Black presence altered the idea of race and how this alteration became a function of the institutional forms that Black Americans have shaped to survive in a hostile environment.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3010 - Black Experience: From 1866 to the Present


    The Black Experience 1866 to the present will concentrate on the plight of the newly freed African-American. The development of the family in post bellum years, the Euro-American reaction to the change in status, the rise of pseudo scientific racist thought, the long-term psychological effects of slavery on both the victims and the victimizers, the search and the rise of Black Messianic leaders, the migration from the rural-agricultural South to the urban-industrialized North, the emergence of Black Nationalism-Civil Rights Movement and the non-Black backlash. AFS 3000 is highly recommended.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3070 - Poetics and Politics of Gender in Islam


    This seminar course takes a historical and a literary approach to the politics of gender in the Islamic traditions of Africa and of the Middle East.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite(s): English 1050 or AFS 2250, or consent of instructor.

    Credits: 4 hours

  
  • AFS 3100 - The Black Woman: Historical Perspective and Contemporary Status


    This course is an examination of the historical perspective and contemporary status of the Black woman and her story, paying critical attention to her image as reflected in her role in the American society. The course emphasizes the problems, issues, and concerns of the Black woman. Students will participate in securing visiting Black female speakers and documenting their story as Black women.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3130 - Radical Activism and the Black Community


    This course is designed to introduce students to the role and influence of black religious leadership in movements of liberation. This course addresses issues of race, gender and violence within the cultural realities of black ministers, by blending the disciplines of history and theology. A key focus of the course is on the role and influence of the “black sermon” as a vehicle for change and protest against abusive power structures. The course is comparative in that the lives and activities of African American ministers like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And Minister Malcolm X are contrasted with that of South African ministers such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and Re. Allan Boseak.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: This course satisfies General Education Area II: Humanities.
  
  • AFS 3140 - The Black Community


    An investigation of the social forms and structures within the Black community from the unique Black perspective. The course will focus on the sociological, political, economic, psychological, and physical aspects of community building by a subordinated group.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3150 - The Underground Railroad in the Midwest


    During the mid to late 19th century, Calhoun County, Michigan was an active human rights center. This area was one stop on the Central Michigan route of the Underground Railroad. Slaves would begin their journey in one of the upper southern states, and go from stop to stop, ultimately reaching “their Canaan lands.” There was a large group who participated in this pursuit of freedom for the enslaved Africans. They were considered subversive fanatics by slaveholders and righteous reformers by other. The aim of this class is the examination of the Underground Railroad system and the people involved. Of particular interest will be the role played by Michiganders in this freedom movement.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3220 - West Africa in Colonial America


    This course will cover the cultural, social, and political background in West Africa of African-Americans. It will also treat African origins of aspects of American culture. It will provide students with the opportunity to explore the cultural, material, and social contributions of West Africans and later African Americans to the development of America from 1607 to the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. The course will therefore be a foundation for other courses covering African Americans, especially their experiences in America.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3250 - Ethnohistory of Sub-Saharan East Africa


    This is a seminar course in the ethnohistory of Sub-Saharan East Africa, from the point of view of the African storytellers as well as that of the western historians. The main focus of the course will be in Upper Nile River in Sudan, and Lake Rudolf, the region known as “the cradle of humankind,” in northern Kenya, the Omo river and its delta in southern Ethiopia, the Karamoja Plateau in northern Uganda.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3300 - History and Significance of Black Pop Culture-1906 to Present


    This course will focus on the continuum to Black Pop Culture in the twentieth century, its developmental stages and its emergence as the nucleus of Pop Culture in “mainstream” America. Students will survey Black theatre, art, music, and literature in twentieth-century America and study the institutions, persons, sites, and traditions that it inspired.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3350 - Research Procedures in Africana Studies


    This course will consider the current comparative and transcontinental research on emerging issues in the field of Africana Studies. The course participants will have opportunities to consider debates in the literature from representative sites in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. We will also look at the pioneer researchers in the field, and their innovative procedures/techniques. The students will become familiar with the research procedures needed to conduct literature reviews, interviews, direct observations, participate in community problem solving, and work with personal and official documents. The result should help the students prepare research papers and theses.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: This course satisfies General Education Area V: Social and Behavioral Sciences.
  
  • AFS 3400 - African and African-American Cinema


    African filmmakers capture Africa’s past and present experiences and imagine themselves in the future. The course examines African cultures and peoples through films, within the light of film theory and culture studies, and it addresses a wide variety of topics such as tradition and modernity, globalization, economic development, colonial and post-colonial identities, power and resistance, and gender issues.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: ENGL 105 and one of the following: AFS 2000, COM 2410, ENGL 2100.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3500 - Blacks in Michigan


    A survey of the significance of Blacks in the making of Michigan history. We will trace the movement of Blacks into Michigan, investigate patterns of settlement, reactions to the émigrés, and the development of the Black families and church as principal forces in the Black community. We will study the political, social, and economic implications of being Black in Michigan, both in urban and rural areas from 1790 to the present. The student will be introduced to the varieties of historical sources available for such study.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 3580 - The African Diaspora: Peoples and Cultures


    The African Diaspora in the Americas, product of the transatlantic slave trade, has impacted every society in North America, the Caribbean, and Central and South America and has produced a diverse array of distinctive cultures and communities. And yet, the communities, cultures, and cultural influences of the African Diaspora are often neglected within the usual regional divisions of area studies courses, despite a solid tradition of anthropology dealing with the peoples and cultures of the African Diaspora. This body of research raises many issues at the cutting edge of anthropological thinking about the nature of cultural continuity and change, identity, consciousness and tradition, and the co-construction of race and nation, to list but a few. This course will introduce the work of pioneering anthropologists of the African Diaspora throughout the Americas, situating their work in the context of various intellectual and political currents of the 20th century, and tracing their legacy in contemporary anthropology and related fields, such as cultural studies and ethnohistory. Much of this recent work reconceptualizes an Atlantic World or “Black Atlantic” that is rich with contemporary interconnections and movements of people between points in the Americas, Europe, and Africa that complicate earlier notions of unidirectional influences from Africa to the New World. We will attempt to map a dialogue between anthropological work on African diasporic culture(s) (situated within the predominately white/Euro academy) and the political and social concerns and consciousness of Afro-American people themselves (not just U.S. African-American, but all of the Americas).

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: Cross-listed with ANTH 3580
  
  • AFS 3600 - Black Woman-Black Man Relationships


    This course is a study of the dynamics of the Black male/Black female relationships in a variety of contemporary settings. Students are expected to assist in the conduct and documentation of the proceedings of the annual Black Male-Female Panel Discussion of social issues of special interest to the Black community, including family dynamics, male-female relationships and strategies for the improvement of those relationships.

    Credits: 3 hours

    Notes: This course satisfies General Education Area III: The United States: Cultures and Issues.
  
  • AFS 3700 - Black Historical Movements/Moments


    This spring travel-course is designed to examine Black historical movements/moments related to the African diaspora (African American, African, and Caribbean). Students will have the opportunity to interface with historical locations, sites, and documents relevant to the era of study. Topics will vary each spring offered and may be repeated under different topics with the approval of advisor/professor from Africana Studies.

    Credits: 4 hours

  
  • AFS 3800 - Special Topics in Africana Literature and Culture


    This seminar is designed both to examine critical issues central to the African diaspora and to produce quality research through investigating African, African American, and diaspora literature, history, philosophy, and culture from an African-centered or Afrocentric perspective. This course may be repeated once under different topics with approval of the advisor. This course is approved as a writing-intensive course which may fulfill the baccalaureate-level writing requirement of the student’s curriculum.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: AFS 2000 or AFS 3000 or AFS 3010. 

    Credits: 4 hours

  
  • AFS 3880 - Introduction to African Civilization


    Overview of major aspects of African history and civilization from earliest times to the present. Emphasis upon elements which contribute to the uniqueness of the African experience. The course is cross-listed with HIST 3880.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 4000 - Blacks in the Arts


    An examination of the creative dimension of the Black Experience as found in music, art, literature, religion, and dance. This course will also explore the influence of science and technology on the arts and identify the universal elements in these areas.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 4100 - Bridging the African Diaspora in the New Millennium: An Interdisciplinary Approach


    The African presence in Asia, Europe, and the Americas is not a recent phenomenon. The dynamic, continuous, and complex phenomenon of the African Diaspora also reveals the voluntary and involuntary dispersion of Africans throughout history, the emergence of a cultural identity based on origin and social condition, and the physical or psychological return to the African homeland.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 4650 - Internship in Africana Studies


    Students will participate in an internship/practicum where their knowledge will be put directly into practice. They will be led through this experience with a seminar led by an approved faculty member from the AFS core faculty and, where appropriate, a person from the student’s disciplinary major department.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: Completion of a minimum of 15 credit hours in the AFS major. Call number obtained from AFS administrative assistant.

    Credits: 3 to 6 hours

  
  • AFS 4860 - Africa and the Slave Trade


    This course will examine Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Course is cross-listed with HIST 4860.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AFS 4980 - Directed Independent Study


    A program of independent study, directed by an approved AFS faculty member, that allows the student to pursue readings relating to the Black Experience not dealt with in other courses. The initiative for describing the project, planning the method(s) of investigation, determining the appropriate results, and securing the cooperation of a faculty member to advise the work must come from the student. Applications are available in the AFS office and must be approved by the director.

    Credits: 1 to 6 hours

  
  • AMEL 5000 - Special Topics in World Languages


    This topic to be announced in the Schedule of Course Offerings. The content of the course will vary from semester to semester. Students may repeat the course for credit as long as the subject matter is different.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AMS 2000 - Introduction to American Studies


    This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history, focusing on the theme of the place of the individual in the community. Students will gain an understanding of the social forces that have shaped men’s and women’s experiences in American culture such as region, gender, ethnicity, and race. The course explores American culture in such areas as religion, politics, sport, literature, labor, popular culture, and social reform.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AMS 3000 - Topics in America Studies


    This course looks closely at a region in America, considering ways scholars work across traditional disciplinary boundaries to construct a coherent understanding of what is meant by culture. The region studied will vary but students will take up similar questions about the history and culture, including native and immigrant populations, rural and urban spaces, diversity in its many forms, as well as regional uniformity and sense of identity in juxtaposition to notions of the nation as a whole.

    Credits: 3 hours

  
  • AMS 3900 - Internship


    After completing at least 18 hours of course work in the AMS program, a student may choose to work outside the University on a regional or national project, such as an archaeological field school, or work as an intern for the Maritime Museum, a political party, or a social service agency. The program director will help to make arrangements and will evaluate the student’s performance.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisite: 18 hours of AMS course work.

    Credits: 3 to 6 hours

  
  • AMS 4900 - American Studies in a Global Context


    This final seminar for the American Studies major and minor is designed to broaden students’ conception of American Studies by challenging them to place their knowledge of the culture of the United States within a global context. Students will be asked to compare some element from American culture to similar elements in other cultures from around the globe. In this way, students will come to better appreciate what is unique and what is universal in American culture.

    Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: At least 20 hours of work in the American Studies major or minor, including AMS 2000 and AMS 3000.

    Credits: 3 hours

 

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