Interdisciplinary Studies Core Courses: 402


BIS 402 Senior Seminar

General Studies: L (3 credits)

Prerequisites

  • C or better in BIS 301 and BIS 302
  • 2.0 GPA

Course Descriptions

Capstone course helps students integrate their classroom and experiential learning. Students choose among course topics that address their interests.

In BIS 402, the faculty offer a variety of topics that use interdisciplinary approaches to explore an issue. Students are encouraged to select the topic from those available that semester, which best fits their interests. Course descriptions are listed below.

 

Spring 2019

Analysis and Decision Making

Instructor: Michael Fox

Students will explore analysis and decision making tools and strategies in business and non-profit environments. Students will focus on leveraging interdisciplinary expertise and strategies to improve entrepreneurial outcomes.


The Cultural and Chemical History of Beer

Instructors: Stephen Davis, Matthew Rodgers

This interdisciplinary online course examines beer in a “big history” framework and traces its development from ancient cultures to the multinational mega-corporations and craft homebrewers of today. We will examine the social, cultural, legal, biochemical, physiological, and business dimensions of beer throughout history.

Death and Dying: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Instructor: Judy Grace

This course asks you to read and reflect on death and dying from several perspectives: psychological (death work internally): cultural/anthropologically (customs of a group of people); economically (the costs of end-of-life care and burial); religious (how the world religions view death and the afterlife); sociologically (your family and friends).

You will be able to pursue your own interests in addition to doing various assignments such as writing your own obituary.

Dimensions of the World Wars

Instructor: Michael Rubinoff

In this course, you will be able to: 1) critically evaluate the global political factors creating World War I and World War II; 2) analyze how our society today has been shaped and influenced by the military and geopolitical consequences of this period; 3) use interdisciplinary strategies to distinguish the eras of peace and war in early 20th century; and 4) articulate the contexts of recent global history by strengthening your reading and writing skills. 

Identity and Conflict in Europe

Instructor: Andi Hess

This course will explore the concepts of identity, ethnicity and nationalism in relation to the conflicts of the 20th century and subsequent integration efforts in Europe. Using examples from many of Europe’s ethnic and national communities, we will examine how identities in this region were formed and have evolved. We will learn what role these national and regional identities play in today’s European nations as they face the increasingly complex economic and political realities of the European integration project.

This topic is part of the Interdisciplinary Studies Balkans Global Intensive Experience program. 

Integrative Thinking

Instructor: Kelly Nelson

This online accelerated course will help you develop thinking skills that are associated with interdisciplinary studies: analytical thinking, divergent thinking, new territory thinking and synthesis. You will be practicing, applying and integrating these different types of thinking through multiple thinking exercises, discussion board posts and two integrative papers.

Journeys and the Adventurous Mind

Instructor: Layne Gneiting

Whether it’s study abroad to Ireland, a pilgrimage through Spain, an oceanic voyage to Antarctica, or an exploration through early America, they share a common thread: a journey. This course uses the archetypal Hero’s Journey to map ancient and modern journeys and decipher the leadership lessons gained by such epic journeys as Lewis and Clark’s trek across the American West and Sir Ernest Shackleton’s fated voyage to the end of the world. By looking through the interdisciplinary lenses of identity, story, and the performance of space, students will learn the 7 points of the Adventure Mindset, the 5 layers of Adventure, and the conditions of transformation.

The Nature of Consciousness

Instructor: Michael Pryzdia

This course explores the nature of consciousness. We will examine the multiple dimensions of this topic by viewing the topic through various disciplinary perspectives with the goal of integrating these perspectives. Our work will encompass three general areas: “soul,” “spirit,” and “thought.” The course will begin with an overview of some of the classic texts included in the contemporary scholarly research done on the topic, and it will end with an examination of a few of the complex global problems facing human beings in the twenty-first century and how those problems can be approached with an integrated “conscious” perspective. We can then examine how such a perspective can take us from a fragmented world to one grounded in wholeness.

Our journey will allow us to explore: 1) the nature of the human psyche; 2) yoga and meditation; 3) the extent to which the mythic imagination and scientific narratives are isomorphic; 4) the extent to which thought operates as a system; and 6) how dialogue can be used as a very effective communication tool. Disciplines examined in the class can include (but are not limited to): business, communication and media studies, religious studies, mythology, philosophy (East and West), psychology, sociology, anthropology, archeology, world literature, quantum physics, cognitive biology, and art.

The Political Economy of Work and Organizations

Instructor: Marie Wallace

Work and labor in its present and past form; Work as a cultural and political institution; Technological change and shifting economic sectors and modes of production; Credentialism, professionalism, occupational prestige and social inequalities in the US labor market (race, ethnicity, gender, sexualities, and class); Precarious work (include temporary and contract work as well as the jobs in the “gig” or sharing economy); Care-work, global care chain and emotional labor; Decline in unionism; Alienation and work; Structure and function of complex organizations/bureaucracies related to work; Fordism and Tayorism.

 

Summer 2019

The Art and Science of Work-Life Integration

Instructor: David Thomas

Through extensive self-assessment across multiple perspectives, students learn how to navigate contemporary career issues and guide career-life management choices over their lifespan. This topic is offered as part of the Interdisciplinary Studies’ Czech Republic study abroad program.

The Cultural and Chemical History of Beer

Instructors: Matthew Rodgers

This interdisciplinary online course examines beer in a “big history” framework and traces its development from ancient cultures to the multinational mega-corporations and craft homebrewers of today. We will examine the social, cultural, legal, biochemical, physiological, and business dimensions of beer throughout history. 

The Global Workplace

Instructors: Jessica Hirshorn/Stephen Davis

This course will examine the global workplace from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. An emphasis will be placed on examining and developing intercultural competencies that are essential in today’s diverse work environment. Whether one is working for a business, health-care provider, educational institution, or not-for-profit agency, intercultural skills are a necessity in today’s world. Through the use of experiential exercises, research and film students will gain valuable cultural, geographic, political, environmental, economic, and religious insights that will help provide them with the competencies needed to be successful in today’s global world. This topic is offered as part of the Interdisciplinary Studies China study abroad program.

Journeys and the Adventurous Mind

Instructor: Layne Gneiting

Whether it’s study abroad to Ireland, a pilgrimage through Spain, an oceanic voyage to Antarctica, or an exploration through early America, they share a common thread: a journey. This course uses the archetypal Hero’s Journey to map ancient and modern journeys and decipher the leadership lessons gained by such epic journeys as Lewis and Clark’s trek across the American West and Sir Ernest Shackleton’s fated voyage to the end of the world. By looking through the interdisciplinary lenses of identity, story, and the performance of space, students will learn the 7 points of the Adventure Mindset, the 5 layers of Adventure, and the conditions of transformation. 

The Political Economy of Work and Organizations

Instructor: Marie Wallace

Work and labor in its present and past form; Work as a cultural and political institution; Technological change and shifting economic sectors and modes of production; Credentialism, professionalism, occupational prestige and social inequalities in the US labor market (race, ethnicity, gender, sexualities, and class); Precarious work (include temporary and contract work as well as the jobs in the “gig” or sharing economy); Care-work, global care chain and emotional labor; Decline in unionism; Alienation and work; Structure and function of complex organizations/bureaucracies related to work; Fordism and Taylorism.