Courses

The course comes at an important moment where abolition is a constant and contentious topic in local and national politics. Following the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, calls to defund the police led many to begin exploring abolitionist thought. In this online, asynchronous course, students explore a critical genealogy of the theories of change that abolitionists have offered and challenges students to apply those theories to contemporary events.

This course will provide students with readings, theories, and space to ask more radical questions about how we have chosen to contend with harm in our society and to imagine alternatives to the strictly carceral ways of thinking we are socialized to operate in.

The instructor has taught for over three years in the department and is trained to teach Black studies and Black feminist theory, both of which have been central to the ongoing work of abolitionist thought. In previous courses, the instructor has included topics explicitly and more implicitly linked to abolitionist thinking.

In this course, the scientific underpinnings of modern companion animal science are presented, with emphasis on nutrition, reproduction, animal domestication, evolution, and behavior as well as health and disease management. Students will study the biological and economic structure of various companion animal industries (dogs and cats, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and lagomorphs). 

The synchronous, online format of the summer offering will allow students interested in companion animals to access the course without commuting or being a resident on campus. 

This course meets the SEBS Core Curriculum requirement for Natural Sciences [NS]. Upon completion, students will be able to understand and apply basic principles and concepts in the physical or biological sciences, and they will also be able to explain and assess the relationship among assumptions, method, evidence, arguments, and theory in scientific analysis. 

Dr. Taylor Ross has extensive experience working with companion animals. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Animal Sciences and a Ph.D. in Animal Science – Education. She has many different types of pets, both livestock and companion animals. Her style of teaching incorporates real-life examples and encourages student participation. 

In this course, students learn the core organic concepts and their real-life applications, while also gaining skills in a collaborative learning environment to build mastery. Through the group activities, students will have a chance to work individually and in groups, reflect on common mistakes and find means to master it so they do not repeat the mistake. 

The in-person course is designed using meaningful learning theory and the "heads and hearts" framework focusing on active learning techniques. The "hearts" framework will be utilized to help students address anxieties associated with the course and build the proper mindset to overcome barriers. There will be opportunities through "Exam wrappers" and the "I Do, We Do, You Do" model to develop transferable study skills. 

Students who actively work with the instructor in finding ways to improve their learning have many opportunities to work with the instructor during the lectures and recitations to ensure they understand the concepts. The instructor in addition utilizes Playposit video quizzes and supplemental notes to help students master the challenging but doable organic chemistry. 

This course typically fulfills core requirement for the first semester of Organic Chemistry 1 required by multiple majors and dental/medical schools. 

The instructor has successfully employed this method in Extended General Chemistry 1 and 2. For her efforts, she won the Distinguished Teaching Award from the School of Arts and Sciences due to the demonstrated success of her students. 

The Caribbean is more than an exotic tropical paradise, with a long history of multi-cultural and multi-ethnic peoples. Expand your knowledge beyond American borders with the history of the Caribbean.  

This unique, asynchronous course allows students to research the Caribbean, past and present. Students will discuss different topics, such as globalization and inequality; migration and diaspora; the legacies of slavery and colonialism; race and racism; gender and sexuality; and tourism. Leave the course with a greater appreciation of the region that is the crossroads of the world and largely responsible for the riches of many European powers. 

This course satisfies the following SAS Core Learning Goal in Contemporary Challenges: Our Common Future [CCO]: Analyze a contemporary global issue from a multidisciplinary perspective. 

Professor Miller is a political scientist and a Caribbean-ist. As a Caribbean-American, Miller is passionate about this topic and has been teaching this course since 2013.