56 courses with the subject IDIS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
Relationships between place and culture, politics, economics, and society. How various regions respond to problems such as poverty, war, and health care, and how their responses affect the global community. Topics change at the discretion of the instructor. (M5)
This class is for first-semester students intending to major in science (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, mathematics, neuroscience, or physics) with an interest in pursuing careers in research or industry (not for students who are pre-med/pre-health). This course will focus on building research and quantitative skills for students with minimal prior research experience. Students will learn about conducting research in collaboration with communities and will design their own data-focused project based in their home community. Students will learn about ethics in community research, will obtain ethical approval for conducting their research, collect data in collaboration with members of their home community, and analyze their data with support from their instructor, peers, and Moravian’s Quantitative Resource Center. Students will begin to develop skills in presenting research findings in scientific contexts and to collaborating members of their community. Students will also develop the knowledge, tools, and skills to pursue their major of interest within the field(s) of science listed above. They will research career opportunities within their intended field and develop individualized plans re: their academic requirements for the major, including courses they might pursue to achieve their goals within that field.
International Student Seminar is designed for all new undergraduate international students during their first semester of study at Moravian University. In this hybrid course, students participate in an orientation that reviews important immigration requirements and compliance related to maintaining student status, reviews legal responsibilities and lawful presence, learn about campus resources, campus activities, relevant academic policies and procedures, meet new people, and begin learning about cultural aspects of American culture. In addition, students will explore concepts related to academic dishonesty and learn how to avoid/minimize the potential for plagiarism. A special emphasis on Bethlehem, the Lehigh Valley, the State of Pennsylvania, the broader region, and neighboring communities to understand how we are reflections of our communities.
This course examines the connection between personal experiences and collective histories and trains students to develop historical arguments on video. Using primary sources and audio recordings from oral history interviews conducted by students, we will produce short videos framing family stories in larger historical contexts. By creating narratives that move between local and national/global scales, and individual and collective scales, students will learn how their family history has been shaped by the wider customs and beliefs of their national, ethnic, or religious culture. Through an examination of family histories, students will also investigate the ways in which cultural contexts have shaped their own values and perspectives. Finally, through peer review of video drafts and oral presentations in which two students compare family histories, the class will analyze how social and historical forces create points of commonality and difference between their lives. (Intercultural and Linguistic Competencies)
This course introduces students to a variety of approaches to unlock creativity. Hands-on exercises and experiences provide usable approaches to help students increase spontaneity, follow their intuition and get out of the way of their own ideas. They will learn to recognize obstacles to creativity, and begin to break down habits and patterns that block the flow of creative thinking. These techniques, though applicable to artistic practice, are useful outside of the arts. Creative problem solving, brainstorming, and seeing/thinking in new ways are essential skills for navigating an ever-changing world, and are prized in the workforce. Activities in the course include Visual Art, Movement/Dance, Sound/Music, and Writing. (M6)(Public Speaking)
Logic as a Liberal Art introduces students to deductive and inductive reasoning using a natural language approach. Students will learn to identify valid deductive arguments based on formal structures and probable inductive conclusions based upon the nature and quantity of supporting evidence. Students will engage in critical reading of a wide variety of texts and engage in ethical deliberation of age-old and contemporary controversies. (PTK - L&R) (Ethical Deliberation)(Critical Reading)
(Also Women’s Studies 160) Women writers, critics, and filmmakers have begun to share their life experiences and perspectives on black Africa using media that historically have been the domain of men. Focus on decisions that contemporary African women make and those made for them. Relationship to global issues of gender and modernity in family, social status, economic and educational opportunities. (M5)
This course is an introduction to Czech history and architecture in the context of Central European history, with a minor emphasis on music. This introduction includes the historical origins of the Moravian Church and a subsequent visit to Bethlehem Chapel, effectively its birthplace. We survey Czech history and European architecture before departing on a week-long trip to Prague, where all architectural styles of the last one thousand years are on display.
This course is devised around a 20-day trip which will take students to five cities: Venice, Salzburg, Munich, Paris and Berlin. The main purpose of this course is to introduce the students to the major architectural styles, as they are expressed through the landmarks of each one of the five cities and relate them to the history and political regimes of the time those landmarks were created. The ultimate objective here is two-fold. By the end of the trip students should be able to identify most of the major architectural styles that have dominated the history of the western world and recognize the major features of each of those styles. They should also understand the extent to which architecture, on top of being a form of art in its own right, is also a powerful tool in the hands of political leaders to showcase the power, the wealth and sometimes, but not always, the genius of the regimes they lead. The course will consist of visits to sites preceded and followed by readings on the part of students and lectures by the instructor.
Students will study, and find and create spaces in which to think and see more freely in order to identify and analyze (in)justice in our own lives, communities, and world. We also will use the contemplative practices of memoir (drawing from the Moravian tradition of Lebenslaufe) and walking as resources for critical thinking. A majority of the course will involve students developing individual responses to (in)justice (“interventions”) through various projects that reflect students’ own passion and design, including academic, artistic, political, religious, social, service-oriented, and personal responses. Students submit a portfolio comprising their best work from the semester to demonstrate that they have met the learning goals of the course, and include their memoir. (M3)(PtK:SS) (Ethical Deliberation)
Conflict Transformation provides students with a lens for understanding social conflict as a normal and continuous dynamic within human experience. Using cases in conflict across a range of global and local contexts, this class will examine the lifecycle of social and political conflicts as they emerge, escalate, de-escalate, and what can be done to contribute to more constructive transformations and a more sustainable peace. Students will also develop a set of basic conflict resolution tools applicable to careers in business, law, political science, education, healthcare, and more. (M5)
This course examines how music reflects and impacts the social conscience of societies worldwide. Areas of concentration include media and social media; music that defines nations; revolution; social conscience and music; music and refugees; censorship; tradition and religion in conflict with music production; music and politics; and the role of music in global societies.
An interdisciplinary project is an experiential and interdisciplinary project available to students who have completed at least one term of study at Moravian University. The project must be interdisciplinary in scope. Projects may be undertaken by a group of students working with a faculty member, or by a single student working one-on-one. Projects are normally conducted on campus, but could include some immersion in the local community, with faculty supervision. Unlike an internship, there usually is no site supervisor from the community. Work done for the project must be independent from that prepared for other classes, or from service hours required for other classes or extracurricular organizations.
Student mentors and Writing Fellows who support the Advance into Moravian program (AIM). Course repeatable.
This course supports course-embedded peer-educators throughout their first-semester placement; providing space for periodic consultation and conferencing.
In The Conquest of Happiness, Bertrand Russell makes us look at the many ways we choose to be miserable despite our circumstances. This course will explore the different meanings and definitions of happiness, the way western culture tries to measure it, as opposed to the way eastern culture approaches it. Individual happiness versus social happiness, who says happiness is a promised part of the human condition? Was paradise The Happy Place? How and why did we lose it? Is guilt part of our self inflicted misery/punishment? Is happiness moral? How are well-being, welfare, contentment, fulfillment, satisfaction or absence of pain related to happiness? Is happiness comparing ourselves to the less fortunate? Is counting our blessings a key to happiness? Is happiness a mean or a goal? Can one buy a positive outlook on life? How does one pursue happiness? What did Aristotle, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard write about happiness? Happiness as viewed by art, psychology, sociology, economy and religion. (U2, II.C.2) 1 unit/4 cr.
We live admidst architecture–buildings, houses, interiors, and landscapes–but we rarely take the time to think about the spaces where we live. Why have our homes, communities, cities, and public spaces evolved as they have? Are some spaces more pleasing to the eye and the mind than others? How do our physical spaces affect our mental life? To explore these questions, we will read about domestic life (the idea of “home”), architecture, and design. (M6) (Same as Psychology 205)
Modern urbanization has threatened the nature of our cities for years. Unless efforts are made to protect them, cities around the world will lose their historical, cultural, and social specificities, and probably look alike by mid-century. By focusing primarily on seven of the world’s greatest cities (Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Kyoto, Paris, and Venice), we examine how they address (or fail to address) those challenging issues. (M5)
Immigration, exile and internal displacement are phenomena seen across the world, and ones that are frequent topics of discussion. This course will examine such issues among the diverse Latin American cultures through the lens of fiction. These texts and films deal directly with moments of social transformation, power differences, and cultural (mis)understanding. Studying these works will help you better understand the timely issues of displacement, as well as how these issues are perceived and represented. Course conducted in English. (M5)
How do artists, writers and graphic designers raise ethical questions and advocate social change? Global examples of visual culture will include propoganda, graphic design, film, and theater. Relationships between art, images, mass media, and acts of conscience will be evaluated using ethical/philosophical frameworks and formal and contextual analysis. Discussion will include historical, social, and political context of art, its method of production and distribution, and its inherent privileges or risks.
Historically, technology has had an enormous impact on diet and disease. Beginning with the domestication of crops and animals, the course will trace changes in the diet and human social systems resulting from advances in agriculture and food distribution. Topics include the 18thcentury agricultural and industrial revolutions and the “green revolution” of the 1950s; hormones, antibiotics, genetically engineered crops; pandemics such as the Black Death of the 14th century, Spanish influenza in 1918, and AIDS and other emerging diseases. (U1)
Immigration, exile and internal displacement are phenomena seen across the world, and ones that are frequent topics of discussion. This course will examine such issues among the diverse Latin American cultures through the lens of fiction. These texts and films deal directly with moments of social transformation, power differences, and cultural (mis)understanding. Studying how these works will help students better understand the timely issues of displacement, as well as how these issues are perceived and represented. Course conducted in English. (M5)
This course considers how society has changed as a result of increased accessibility to information through computer technology. Possible topics include dealing with “information overload” through information literacy, Internet regulation in a global society, property rights’ issues related to file-sharing programs, the limits of privacy in an online setting, and issues related to the regulation of SPAM. (U1)
In this course the student will develop an understanding of health, illness, and the meanings of these concepts for members of non-western socio-cultural populations. Topics points include culturally bound practices; the impact on healthcare practices and decision-making; structures that promote access to healthcare and structures that impede access. The concept of delivering culturally competent care will be examined and strategies for promoting competence will be explored. (M5)
Addresses the historical and comparative evolution of our species. Using the approaches of evolutionary biology, physical anthropology, and archaeology, this course traces human physical evolution and cultural development from its earliest beginning, more than fi ve million years ago, to about 15,000 years ago, just before the beginnings of plants and animal domestication and the rise of complex societies. Special attention paid to the impact that evolutionary ideas have had on social, political, and educational issues in American life. (U1)
This course explores the origin and diversification of land plants, especially flowering plants with ethnobotanical uses. This course covers plant identification and nomenclature, botanical accuracy of medicinal plants, edible plants, and toxic plants. This course also introduces students to plants that changed the course of history through their capacity to be edible, deadly, addictive, healing, and economically profitable. The cultivation and global spread of plants became the impetus for many inventions that are discussed in this course. Students read primary literature, communicate scientific findings, synthesize information from multiple sources verbally and in written format. This is an interdisciplinary course that combines plant taxonomy with the historical use of plants. (U1)
Discusses the persecution and mass killing of European Jews by Nazi Germany. Describes anti-Semitism in historical context and explores the complexities of ultimate moral choices by asking how a cultured civilization produced mass killers and an educated class went unprotesting to its extermination. Students will explore the experience of those who were sent to the camps, how they constructed a kind of everyday life, and how gender influenced their experience. Finally, we study how and why the world outside Germany-foreign governments, intellectuals, religious and humanitarian groups-reacted to or failed to confront the Holocaust. (U2)
Students will develop an aesthetic and cultural overview of African art, from prehistory to the present day. Sculpture is the primary medium studied in the course, but textiles, painting, artisanal works and architecture are also included. Students will consider how religion and cultural influences affect the development of regional and national styles. The influence of the African diaspora on art in Europe, Latin America, and the United States will be considered. Students will acquire the critical vocabulary required to analyze and interpret African art, and apply it in both dicussion and writing. (M5)
(Also Interdisciplinary 228) This course explores the use of mythology, archetypes, and storytelling to create a cohesive and compelling identity for an organization. It focuses on how legendary organizations have built trust and created iconic brands by understanding and applying these principles. In this course we discuss the use of symbolism (visual and mental) and metaphor to create a theme that is enduring, powerful, and integrated throughout the organization. Students explore ways that organizations and people can develop deep and lasting relationships with their customers and other stakeholders through the understanding and application of these storytelling techniques.
Examines global disaster management and the socio-cultural needs of individuals, particularly of vulnerable populations. Current evidence-based information on disaster response will be explored in order to prepare for the unique cultural needs of populations impacted by disasters. The student will develop an understanding of the nature of different types of global disasters and develop a plan for disaster management at a personal, community, and global level.
Ethical and biological considerations for the individual, family, and society regarding recent technical procedures and diagnostic methods in reproductive biology. Topics include prenatal genetic diagnosis and treatment, assisted reproductive technologies, premature birth and associated medical concerns and treatments, birth-control methods, sex-selection technologies, and pregnancy- and birth-related technologies. (U1)
This course is intended to give the students an informative and balanced look at nuclear energy. Students will learn about the fundamentals of radioactivity as well as the historical events related to nuclear energy and “the bomb”. The implications (environmental, scientific, ethical, and historical to name a few) of living in the nuclear age and the dangers inherent to nuclear energy will also be discussed. Related films will be used as points of discussion for ethics, policy, and technology issues.
This interdisciplinary course introduces students to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including the science, different mechanisms within the UNFCCC, the subsidiary bodies which assist the COP, and the various constituencies of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Students will be introduced to the multi-cultural perspectives (including those of indigenous peoples, and contrasts between the global north and south) and other issues such as gender that influence individual country positions. Students examine not only the process used for developing multilateral agreements, but also how these are ratified and implemented in different countries. This course will utilize multiple modes of teaching and learning including weekly lecture-discussion sessions; group work; individual and team projects; use of online resources and tools for research, blogging, and weekly virtual discussions; and students will also actively follow and engage in the UNFCCC negotiations during the annual fall conferences. (Equity and Inclusion)(Critical Reading)
This course focuses on how the ideas of tzedek (“justice”) and charity (“love”) apply to marketing to the world’s poorest people (those living on less than $2/day). This coruse will look at three different perspectives of social justice: Jewish, Christian, and American secular traditions. Each of these three perspectives has unique traditions regarding the role of the individual, the community, and the obligation towards helping those less fortunate. We will discuss differences between morality and ethics based on these three perspectives, as well as approaching social justice as an obligation, an act of love, or a practical solution. We will disuss the needs of the poor in emerging nations and show how products could be created and distributed in these emerging nations in accordance with these different ethical and moral perspectives. (U2)
The physical, psychological, relational, and socio-cultural aspects of sexuality influence humans from before birth through death. This course will increase students’ understandings of lifespan human sexuality; engage them in critical thinking about sexuality in the context of culture; help them identify and critique their sexual values, attitudes and morals; and enable students to make relational and sexual decisions in keeping with their values. (U2)
Ethical concerns associated with traditional and contemporary social issues. Assessment of moral arguments based upon individual beliefs as well as those promoted by traditional philosophy. Encourages exploration of students’ own philosophies in the context of everyday life.(U2)
A critical examination of the changing relationship between sport and culture, particularly as it pertains to Western sport. The course will include an historical overview of sport as cultural marker and its resultant industries before moving toward a range of specific socio-political dimensions, including issues of inequality, labor, marketing, and socialization schemes, paying particular attention to the narratives expressed through various media forms. (WI)
Moral Injury has been defined as “the inevitable outcome of moral engagement with the reality of war and killing,” (Antal and Winings: 2015) and as “the result of participation in the moral distortion of the world created by war” (Denton-Borhaug: 2021). In this course participants will explore and analyze moral injury through multidisciplinary methods including public “whole” health, spiritual, philosophical and theological frameworks, the arts and humanities, as well as through diverse social and physical scientific paradigms/methods. Our aim will be to illuminate increased understanding of the individual experience of moral injury; analyze the relationship between moral injury and U.S. War-culture; and engage in reflective moral deliberation regarding what the phenomenon of moral injury requires of us as individuals, citizens, people with religious (or no-religious) identities, and members of diverse moral communities. (U2)(PtK:HUM)(Ethical Deliberation)
Creators of science fiction often present dire warnings about the world to come in which science has subverted human values. By studying important developments in science and technology and significant works of science fiction, we can comprehend the nature of these warnings and attempt to formulate a civilized response to the dehumanizing forces afflicting the contemporary world. (U1)
This course considers such moral issues as identity; duties to kin; love, marriage, and sex; euthanasia and suicide; racism and sexism, as posed within a variety of world literature that includes short stories, novels, poetry, and drama, ranging from the era of Sophocles’ Antigone to the present. (U2) (Ethical Deliberation)
Many forces and ideas shaped the civil rights movement. Through both a historical and a theological/philosophical lens, students will examine those forces and ideas and will consider how the power and depth of the movement continues to challenge us with its continued relevance today. The course includes in-close examinations of key events in the movement, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Nashville sit-ins, in order to view the movement from the vantage of people involved in the movement. (PTK - SS)(Ethical Deliberation)
A course designed for students to explore issues related to the applications of genetic sequencing. Topics include medical, legal, and ethical implications of decisions about the use of genetic information on themselves and on society.
Doing good is philanthropy, ethical codes of conduct, voluntarism, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship. “Doing good” at work is not only the morally correct thing to do for the individual employee, but the more individuals in the organization who “do good,” the more likely the organization will succeed on economic, social, and mission-related levels/goals. Students will learn.about the philosophy, history and practice of “doing good” at work, and integrate what they have learned and what they believe to develop their own model for “doing good” that they can work and “live with.” (U2)
Topical writing for various audiences in science education, including students, parents, colleagues, administrators, editors of professional journals, and review committees of funding agencies. Topics involve contemporary issues in science and/or science education. For General Science teacher education students in the elementary and secondary programs only. Writing-intensive.
Country-specific. This nursing elective course seeks to explore the globalization of professional nursing in specific countries. Faculty approves the country context of choice. Students practice in country under the supervision of R.N. clinical mentors.
This course is designed to teach the foundations of grants for STEM fields. Throughout the course, participants will learn to search for funding sources, match needs with funding agencies, read and understand a grant solicitation, develop a blueprint (idea generation), develop a concept paper, prepare a proposal, and understand reporting requirements. We will consider private, state, and federal grants associated with different STEM fields and STEM education.
Evolutionary theory and cultural accounts explaining the origins of human behavior are gaining in popularity. Evolution refers to biological and genetic processes, including inherited traits. Culture entails complex external social forces that affect societies and are often perpetuated by them. Does biology dominate culture? Does culture override biology? Or does the interaction between the two create behavior? We will critically examine various explanations of human behavior. (U1)
Technological development and social implications of various forms of mass media. Analyzes mass media as a social force that shapes personal and collective ideas and behaviors. (U1)
This course offers a grounded approach for tracing and interpreting how the language of 19th century post-bellum America continued to shape and ultimately preserved systems that historically justified inequality by institutionalizing difference. Investigating the Jim Crow system as a set of communication practices and habits, we will revisit the period before comparing it to the other regions of the country, which will then allow us to draw upon more critical examinations of the political, economic, and social forces that continue to underscore discussions of race, class, gender, and power in the whole of American life. (U2). Open to juniors and seniors only.
This writing intensive course is designed to aid students in utilizing research as a contextual and integrative process. It will address issues such as the relationship between the academic and the informative; what it means to be a scholar and a college graduate who is aware of the globalized world. As students get in contact with their academic passions and programmatic course work, this seminar will encourage discourse around the intersectionality of scholastic research and the integration of personal reflection and personal growth in and out of an academic context. Students will realize the role of the scholarship in their lives, how to approach research from the root of the their own inquiry versus a single discipline; and how to properly develop their own academic voice through writing and revision. The knowledge base will be drawn from the philosophies of social science, integrative, and creative inquiry with the goal of enhancing the complexity of liberal studies within research. Finally through extensive writing the seminar will encourage open dialogue and close collaboration engaging with multiple perspectives and disciplines.
(Same as PSYC 372) Explores implications of recent medical advances. Topics include: assisted reproductive technologies, genetic testing, premature and low-birth-weight infants, performance-enhancing drugs, sex selection, and euthanasia. Students will be provided with an overview of the medical technologies in question and will explore ways in which individuals, families, and society are socially, emotionally, morally, legally, and economically affected by these advances. (U1)
An exploration of the emerging theories and controversial issues regarding the relationship betweeen work, family, and other life roles. Both the employee and employer perspective will be discussed within an organizational context, and from various moral perspectives. Students will also consider and react to the psychological adjustment and decision-making issues posed by the impact of work on one’s family and life roles, and vice versa.(U2)
Students develop a “hands on” learning experience in the community with an emphasis on justice and peace-building that suits the particular design of their educational direction in the minor. Faculty mentors guide students’ choices of additional study materials, participation in the “Vocational Reflection Circle” and additional memoir chapters.
Source: Moravian University's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 59
