Course Descriptions

CHE 374 - Medicinal Chemistry

CHE 395 - Literature Investigation

This course is designed for any qualified student who desires to pursue a literature research project in an area of special interest in chemistry under the direction and supervision of a faculty member. The latter reviews and approves the topic of research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following acceptance of the student’s written research proposal. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 396 - Laboratory Research I

Experimental chemistry projects conducted with the direction and supervision of a faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic of the research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following acceptance of the student’s written research proposal. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals. This course is intended for non-senior students.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 397 - Laboratory Research II

Experimental chemistry projects conducted with the direction and supervision of a faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic of the research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following acceptance of the student’s written research proposal. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals. This course is intended for non-senior students.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 396. Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 410 - Advanced Topics in Chemistry

Selected topics in organic chemistry.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 202 and 351, or permission of the instructor. (Fall)

CHE 420 - Seminar in Analytical Chemistry

In this course (Spring 2020), we will explore Wicked Questions in Environmental Chemistry with a focus on the Analytical Techniques that are developed and employed to study them. Upon completion of this course, students will have demonstrated competence in: (a) identifying the complexity of wicked questions in environmental chemistry, (b) understanding the operating principles of a variety of cutting edge analytical techniques including long range spectroscopic methods, electrochemical sensors, nanomaterial and surface methods, chromatography and mass spectrometry, (c) finding, reading, discussing and presenting primary literature for cutting edge analytical techniques, and (d) communicating science to a variety of audiences in both written and oral form. 

Satisfies a major requirement in Chemistry.
Satisifes Environmental Studies major requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
CHE 220, 320, 321, 325 or by permission of the instructor. No laboratory.

CHE 430 - Seminar in Biological Chemistry (= BIO 395)

Advanced topics in biochemistry related to instructor’s areas of interest and expertise. Serves as a capstone course for the Chemistry Major with an Emphasis in Biochemistry and the Biochemistry Interdisciplinary Minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 330, or by permission of the instructor; Biology 111. No laboratory. (Spring)

CHE 440 - Seminar in Inorganic Chemistry

Application of modern theories of chemistry and physics to the study of bonding, structure, synthesis, and reaction pathways of non-metal, organometallic, and transition metal compounds.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 340. No laboratory. (Not offered 2016-17)

CHE 450 - Seminar in Organic Chemistry

Advanced topics in organic chemistry related to instructor’s areas of interest and expertise.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 350. No laboratory. (Spring)

CHE 460 - Seminar in Physical Chemistry

Advanced topics in physical chemistry related to instructor’s areas of interest and expertise.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 352/360. No laboratory. (Fall, offered every two years)

CHE 496 - Senior Research I

CHE 497 - Senior Research II

CHE 498 - Thesis Research

Experimental chemistry project conducted with the direction and supervision of a faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic of the research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following accepatance of the student’s written research proposal. This course is intended for senior students that are completing a thesis for evaluation by the department and pursuing an honors degree. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 496 or a summer of research with the instructor after the student’s junior year. (Fall and Spring)

CHI 101 - Elementary Chinese I

CHI 102 - Elementary Chinese II

CHI 120 - Introduction to Chinese Culture

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the East Asian Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 121 - Introduction to Traditional Chinese Culture

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 122 - Introduction to Chinese Visual Culture

This course introduces students to different aspects of Chinese visual culture including traditional ink paintings, popular publications, propaganda posters, performance art, as well as cinema. We will explore broader themes, such as the representation of the natural world and its relationship to people; women, gender, and ethnicity in visual arts; and the formation of Chinese identity at home an abroad in the diaspora community. This course is taught in English.

Satisfies a requirement in the Art History major and minor.
Satisfies the Literature, Culture, and Cinema requirement of the Chinese Studies minor.
Satisifes a requirement in the East Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

CHI 201 - Intermediate Chinese I

CHI 202 - Intermediate Chinese II

CHI 206 - Introduction to Traditional Chinese Literature

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Students entering before 2012: satisfies Literature requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 207 - Engendering Chinese Cinema

Satisfies a Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 220 - Modern Chinese Fiction and Film (1919 - 1949)

Explores Chinese fiction and film from 1919 to 1949. Addresses historical, political and literary or cinematic background; considers origins of modern Chinese consciousness, influence of foreign literature, images of oppressed peoples, social roles of the modern Chinese writers, family, women and gender, politics, nation and revolution. 

Satisfies a minor requirement in Chinese Studies.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in East Asian Studies.
Students entering 2012 and after: satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, cultural diversity, and Rhetoric requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 224 - Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 225 - Crime & Detective Literature (in translation)

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the East Asian Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 226 - In the Name of Religion: Love and Gender in Chinese Fiction and Film

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Students entering before 2012: satisfies Literature requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 228 - Modern Chinese Literature in Translation

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 253 - Business Chinese Language

Business Chinese is designed to develop students’ communicative competency in reading, writing, and speaking business Chinese at the intermediate and advanced level.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chinese 202 or equivalent is required.

CHI 265 - Contemporary Chinese Society and Culture

This course explores issues in Chinese society and culture, and includes on-site visits to important places in China. In addition to the course requirements, students will be required to maintain a field journal. This course will also be informed by the travel experiences included in the program.

CHI 295 - Independent Study

Course information coming soon.

CHI 301 - Advanced Chinese I

CHI 302 - Advanced Chinese II

CHI 303 - Advanced Conversational Chinese

CHI 350 - Advanced Reading and Writing

CHI 354 - Advanced Conversation and Composition II

Chinese 354 is designed to develop students’ communicative competency in speaking and writing at the advanced level. The course introduces students to more literary texts by famous writers including Lu Xun, Xu Dishan, Zhu Ziqing, etc. and (classical) idiomatic expressions as well as two-part allegorical expressions. Chinese 354 serves as a transitional course from modern Chinese to classical Chinese.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chinese 353 or equivalent. Students are expected to have completed three years of modern Chinese at the college level before taking this class.

CHI 360 - Issues in Chinese Society

The topic for this course rotates; it is offered by the faculty from the School of Social Development and Public Policy (taught in English). In 2016, the anticipated class will be The Chinese Marketplace, a course on the impact of globalization on China taught by an anthropologist.

Prerequisites & Notes
UG Credit

CHI 395 - Advanced Independent Study

CHI 401 - Advanced Chinese I

Reading and discussion of modern Chinese written and verbal texts with an emphasis on developing oral and aural fluency, expanding vocabulary, deepening grammatical knowledge, and learning Chinese writing conventions.

Satisfies East Asian Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Chinese Language and Liturature major and minor requirement.
Satisfies foreign language requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CHI 302

CHI 402 - Advanced Chinese III

Reading and discussion of modern Chinese written and verbal texts with an emphasis on developing oral and aural fluency, expanding vocabulary, deepening grammatical knowledge, and learning Chinese writing conventions.

Satisfies a major requirement in Chinese Language and Literature

Satisfies a major requirement in East Asian Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Chinese Studies

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in East Asian Studies

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CHI 401

CHI 405 - Chinese Cinema and Modern Literature (in translation)

Reading and discussion of selected works in Chinese literature and cinema. Discussion of individual research projects.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the East Asian Studies major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Film & Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. May repeat for credit if the subject is different.

CHI 406 - Seminar: Topics in Traditional Chinese Literature

CHI 450 - Topics in Advanced Modern Chinese

Selected topics on Chinese current affairs, economy, culture, literature, etc. It is designed for students who have successfully completed Advanced Modern Chinese courses or its equivalent. The goal is to bring students to native or near-native competence in all aspects of modern Chinese. Prepares students for advanced research or employment in a variety of China-related fields. Taught in Chinese. Actual contents, requirements and teaching style may vary from instructor to instructor. Can repeat for credit. Check with the instructor who teaches the class for updates. 

Satisfies Chinese Language and Liturature major requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies foreign language requirement

CHI 451 - Topics in Advanced Modern Chinese

Selected topics on Chinese current affairs, economy, culture, literature, etc.   It is designed for students who have successfully completed Advanced Modern Chinese courses or its equivalent. The goal is to bring students to native or near-native competence in all aspects of modern Chinese. Prepares students for advanced research or employment in a variety of China-related fields. Taught in Chinese. Actual contents, requirements and teaching style may vary from instructor to instructor.  Can repeat for credit.  Check with the instructor who teaches the class for updates. 

Satisfies Chinese Language and Liturature major requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies foreign language requirement

CHI 498 - Honors Thesis

Independent honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member.

CHI 499 - Honors Thesis

Independent honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member.

CLA 111 - The Ancient World

An introduction to the world of heroes like Odysseus and Dido, gods like Athena and Bacchus, rulers like Alexander and Cleopatra, poets like Sappho and Plautus, historians like Herodotus and Livy, martyrs like the seven Jewish brothers and Perpetua. The Greco-Roman world saw the beginning of history and philosophy, tragedy and comedy, epic and epigram. It laid the foundations of democracy. If the Greeks lived around the Mediterranean Sea like frogs around a pond, as Plato said, the Romans conquered the pond and then some. Yet for all these great achievements, millions of people in this world lived and died in slavery, and the average life expectancy was 35 years, due to an appallingly high infant mortality rate.

This course will introduce students to this diverse and influential world, paying particular attention to how we know what we know, resources (print, electronic, material) for studying the classical world, and funding opportunities for research in this field. We will dip into a wide range of written evidence as well as material remains. Guest lecturers will showcase the wide range of approaches you can take at Davidson to explore the ancient world further.

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Satisfies a requirement for the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Counts as a pre-modern course in the History major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Offered annually, Fall only.)

CLA 121 - Greek Literature in Translation

Selected works from a variety of ancient Greek literary genres.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies a requirement for the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Satisfies the historical approaches requirement in the English major.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Offered in alternate years.)
Students at all levels welcome.
 

CLA 122 - Roman Literature in Translation

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies a requirement for the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Satisfies the historical approaches requirement in the English major.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Spring 2020)

CLA 141 - Greek Art and Archaeology

Minoan-Mycenaean art and architecture of the Aegean Bronze Age; later Greek art and architecture from the Geometric to the Hellenistic period.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies a requirement for the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Counts towards the major in Art History.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Fall)

CLA 142 - Roman Art and Archaeology

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies a requirement for the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Counts towards the major in Art History.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Offered in alternate years)

CLA 224 - Medical Etymology

This course explains the Greek and Latin roots of the language of medical science, and encourages mastery of these elements as essential to understanding medical language.  In addition to etymological study, the course will investigate word origins in their cultural and mythological contexts.  Students will learn to become morphological surgeons, dissecting the layered and sometimes cumbersome language of the body and its treatments.

Counts as an elective in the Classical Languages and Literature major and the Classical Studies major.
Counts as an elective in the Health & Human Values interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2019-2020)

CLA 233 - Justice in a Pure Democracy: Searching for Equal Rights in Ancient Athens

This course will explore how the Athenian community changed over time as it became more democratic.  How “pure” was Athenian democracy, really?  How did the Athenians define who got which rights and responsibilities?  How did their judicial system work?  What role did religion play?  What criticisms did Athenian democracy face?  How did the Athenians respond to attempts to overthrow the democracy?  Readings will include Homer, Aeschylus, Thucydides, and Plato, as well as Aristotle’s history of the Athenian constitution and surviving speeches from legal disputes ranging from homicide to prostitution, inheritance to property rights.

Provides elective credit in the Classical Studies and Classical Languages & Literature major.
Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern requirement in the History major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2019-2020)

CLA 238 - War and Gender in the Ancient World

This course explores the ways that warfare in ancient Greece and Rome both depended on and produced particular ideas about gender. We will consider not only the actual experiences of warfare by ancient men and women, but also the role of gender in ancient discourse about war and the influence of militarism more generally on ancient conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Topics include the representation of women as war’s cause, purpose, or medium; combat trauma and masculinity; women warriors; gendered divisions of wartime labor; sexual violence in war; gender and resistance to war; militarism and the socialization of young men; feminized depictions of “the enemy”; gender and war commemorations; and militarized representations of love and sex. For each topic, we will also explore the intersections of gender with other dimensions of social difference, such as social status and ethnicity.

We will examine literary and material evidence from Greco-Roman antiquity, including readings in Homer, Euripides, Vergil, Livy, and Ovid, and imagery on vase paintings, sculptural reliefs, coins, and ancient inscriptions. We will also read contemporary scholarship on gender and warfare and discuss recent film and literary adaptations of ancient sources on these topics, such as Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq (2015) and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (2018).

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Counts as an elective toward the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Counts as an elective toward the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern requirement in the History major.
Satisfies Historical Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Fall 2019)

CLA 244 - Field School in Mediterranean Archaeology

Counts as an elective toward the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required. (Summer only.)

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Archaeology.

CLA 246 - Who Owns the Past?

Archaeologists try to understand human culture through its material remains. But though the material comes from the past, archaeology takes place in the present, and the ethical issues confronted by archaeologists are anything but past. Using the case method, this course aims to provide a forum for informed discussion about cultural property and cultural heritage. We will think about what stakeholders are involved in issues raised by archaeology; what ethical, financial, legal, political (and sometimes military) considerations affect decisions these stakeholders make; what legal statutes, ethical codes, and disciplinary practices are involved. The cases set out ethical dilemmas involving stewardship, commercialization, public education, intellectual property, public reporting and publication, indigenous rights, and more, including issues faced by museums.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Counts as an elective toward the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2019-2020.)

CLA 250 - Classical Mythology

Counts as an elective toward the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2019-2020.) 

CLA 252 - Classics in the Cinema

This course will analyze films set in the ancient Roman world, approximately one each week, starting from Giovanni Pastrone’s silent classic Cabiria (1914) and proceeding chronologically to Alejandro Amenábar’s Agora (2009), including along the way big movies such as Quo Vadis, Spartacus, Cleopatra (1963), and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, comedies both serious and silly such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Life of Brian, and History of the World, Part I, the blockbuster Gladiator and challenging films such as Fellini Satyricon and Titus that some might call bloody and disgusting. We will also include some episodes of HBO’s Rome, a small-screen series with high production values. We will pay particular attention not only to the films as films, but also to the cultural and political contexts in which they were made.

All the movies are in English or dubbed into English. Assignments will include a creative video project on a film set in the ancient world that we are not covering in the course.

Satisfies Classical Studies major requirement.
Fulfills a requirement in the Film & Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Spring 2020.)

CLA 277 - Rome and Carthage

Examines the rise of Rome and Carthage, the series of wars they fought for control of the western Mediterranean from 264-146 BC, and the long-term effects on Mediterranean history.

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome.

CLA 332 - Greeks and Persians

This course explores the various cultural, economic, military, political, and religious interactions between the Greeks and the Achaemenid Persians, rulers of the first world empire, and investigates how Herodotus, the “Father of History,” constructed his grand narrative. The focus will be on the period from Cyrus the Great to Xerxes (559-478 BCE), but we will pay some attention to the later Greek and the modern reception of this early confrontation between east and west, including the movie 300. 

Satisfies a major requirement in Classics.
Satisfies a major requirement in History.
Satisfies the Historical Thought Requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2019-2020.)

CLA 336 - Augustus and the Roman Republic

After several decades of civil war, Augustus set out to restore the res publica. By the time he died 45 years later, the Roman world had changed into a form of monarchy that lasted for centuries. In this course, we will explore the crisis of the last generation of the Roman Republic before turning to how Augustus transformed Roman politics, society, and culture, including the physical fabric of the city of Rome.

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Counts as an elective toward the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.
Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern course in the History major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring 2020.)

CLA 399 - Independent Study in Classical Studies

Research and writing under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) and evaluates the student’s work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

CLA 480 - Senior Research Seminar

Capstone course for classics majors. Students define, research, and write a major research paper on a topic of their choice.

Satisfies a major requirement in Classics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Required of senior Classics majors. (Fall)

CLA 499 - Senior Thesis

COM 101 - Principles of Oral Communication

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirements.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

COM 201 - Introduction to Communication Studies

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirements.

Satisfies a Communication Studies Interdisciplinary minor requirement.

COM 202 - Methods in Rhetorical Criticism

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirements.
Satisfies a Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.

COM 207 - Trump, Race, and US Media

Satisfies Digital Studies major requirement.

COM 216 - Rhetorics of Masculinity

This class explore masculinities from a communication perspective that centers it as socially constructed, performative, contextual, cultural, and negotiated. We will examine how the discourse of masculinities changed over time, the time periods that heralded those discursive changes, how certain masculinities emerge as hegemonic, and how different identity markers affect the construction of masculinities.

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 218 - Gendered Communication in Society (= SOC 218)

Examination of the social construction of gender in both personal relationships and professional contexts. Areas to be explored may include culture, verbal and nonverbal communication, family dynamics and close relationships, education, organizational communication, and roles in media.

Satisfies a major requirement in Sociology and in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Satisfies a requirement in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies Liberal Studies requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

COM 225 - Interpersonal Communication

A theoretical, practical, and experiential study of the selective, systemic, and individual transactions that allow people to reflect and build personal knowledge of one another and create shared meaning. Readings, discussions, and exercises focus on connecting concepts and models to everyday interactions. Included are issues of diversity, personal identity, human perceptions, language use, mindful listening, conflict management, and nonverbal communication.

Satisfies a Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.
Satisfies Liberal Studies requirement.
 

COM 230 - Organizational Communication

Study of how communication creates and sustains organizations and is coordinated and controlled to achieve collective outcomes. Such topics as leadership, globalization, workplace collaboration, diversity, and crisis communication will connect theoretical concepts and models to today’s changing world.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

COM 253 - True Stories

“Tell me a story,” is one of the most powerful invitations in human communication, and narrative forms - from podcasts such as “Serial” to everyday newspaper and web reporting - communicate information through compelling storylines and characters. Yet narratives also can mislead and misrepresent, depending on their point of view, factual veracity, research support, sourcing and ethics. This course will draw on analysis of a variety of narrative journalism forms as well as hands-on work and visits from top practitioners in considering the elements and standards of good journalism and the role and influence of narrative in media and culture.

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement

COM 273 - Reporting Politics and Elections

Students wanting to better understand our contentious political era have a unique opportunity to explore what it all means, given that there will be an all-important Republican National Convention just down the road in Charlotte during the summer of 2020. To that end, this course will teach students the basics of solid, ethical journalism and reporting, then give send them out to do on-the-ground reporting as the Charlotte area prepares for the convention and all that comes with it. That will include reporting on issues such as race, inequality, health care, hyper-partisanship and interviewing city, county, state and national-level officials to craft pieces for potential publication online, The Davidsonian and other local media outlets.

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

COM 275 - Mass Media & Society (= SOC 275)

This course takes a critical approach to the study of the production and consumption of mass media, focusing on both the media industry in the United States and emerging forms of global media. Drawing upon various media-including television, radio, video games, and the Internet-the course will examine the economic and social organization of mass media, the content of media messages, the relationship between media and the public, the growth of new media technologies, and current dilemmas facing media policy makers. The course assumes that mass media and the industries that produce media products play significant cultural and political roles in contemporary societies.

Major credit in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Minor in Communication Studies.
Satisfies Social Science requirement.

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

COM 280 - Intercultural Communication

This course explores issues related to the intercultural communication process. We will consider the important role of context (social, cultural, and historical) in intercultural interactions. We will examine the complex relationship between culture and communication from three conceptual perspectives: the social psychological perspective, the interpretive perspective, and the critical perspective. It is through these three conceptual perspectives that we will strive towards a comprehensive picture of intercultural communication. From applying these approaches to the study of intercultural communication, we will also come to appreciate the complexity and dialectical tensions involved in intercultural interactions. This learning process should enhance self-reflection, flexibility, and sensitivity in intercultural communication which students will likely find useful whether interested in studying or working abroad or simply wanting to become better informed intercultural communicators in our increasingly diverse nation and world.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 290 - Persuasion and Propaganda

Explores the distinction-theoretically, historically, and in contemporary public discourse- between persuasion and propaganda.  Surveys and provides background in the various meanings and applications of the terms persuasion and propaganda in theory and practice.  Through both scholarly research and case studies, it helps students become more sophisticated and critical consumers of persuasion and propaganda in the “marketplace of ideas.” 

• Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
  Satisfies a Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

COM 311 - Media, Empathy and Justice

This course will teach students how to use journalistic principles to tell better, more complex stories that emphasize the importance of ethics and empathy. The course ethically explores emotionally-charged issues such as race, sexual assault, disability and political difference, among others. This will be accomplished through students learning investigative journalistic skills and “an immersion in difference” exercise, as well as studying how media dealt with some of the most contentious issues in American history, such as lynchings. The course will have a writing basis, but students will be taught to tell stories in multiple ways and be introduced to some of the top journalists from print, radio and photography, in the world. 

COM 315 - Media Effects (= SOC 315)

Satisfies a major requirement in Sociology.
Satisfies Communication Studies and Film and Media Studies interdisciplinary minor requirements.
Satisfies Liberal Studies requirement.
 

COM 325 - Exploring Fake News

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisifes the Justice Equality and Community requirement.

COM 328 - Social Media’s Impact on Society

The oldest and most trusted form of human communication is word of mouth. The most developed and pervasive is mass media. Now comes social media, incorporating the qualities of both: word of mouth at the speed of light. Its existence is so new, its effects so stupefying, that few have paused from drinking it in long enough to contemplate how it works and where it is taking our world. Through this course, you will explore the underpinnings of social media, its widespread uses to date and the far-ranging effects those uses are having on culture, media, politics and business (often explained by visiting professionals in those fields). You will also complete a project that applies social media within your chosen field.

Satisfies a interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
 

COM 344 - Stereotypes and Humor (=SOC 344)

This course centers humor communication and comedy studies with a focus on stereotypes in various public and mass communication realms, including entertainment media, stand-up comedy, interpersonal and small group settings. Theoretical frameworks on prejudice, discrimination, intersectionality, social and personal identities, and backstage/frontstage racism will anchor the course towards a critical understanding of how stereotypes, as mental shortcuts and oversimplified kernels of truth, function in their many communicative manifestations. The particular focus on the intersection of stereotypes and humor interrogates a context in which anything goes and even the most otherwise controversial, sensitive hot button topics are given a pass under the guise of humor. Many types of stereotypes take center stage in this course with special attention to those that undermine and marginalize underrepresented populations. We will consider the great potential stereotype humor holds to impact intergroup interaction dynamics in the real world.

COM 350 - Communication and Issues of Diversity (=SOC 350)

The U.S. population continues to become increasingly more diverse, and this increased diversity creates newer, greater challenges for organizations (including government, nonprofit, and corporate entities) as well as for individual communicators. How do our upbringing and biases shape the way we characterize, interact with, and talk about others? The focus of this course is to introduce students to issues of power, race, class, and gender, as related to communication theory and practice.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
Satsifes a requirement in the Sociology major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 365 - Rhetorics of Justice and Equality

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

COM 390 - Special Topics - Voices of Democracy: Great Speeches in U.S. History

 This special topics course in Communication Studies introduces students to some of the most famous (and infamous) speeches and debates in U.S. history.   In this election year, we will study some memorable campaign speeches and debates,  but we also will consider how voices outside of the political mainstream-voices of protest and dissent-have sparked historic debates over civil rights, gender and sexuality, free speech and privacy rights, and other important issues.  Beyond learning about great speeches in history, students will reflect on how, in a free society, speech functions as a mechanism for defining our identity, reconciling our political and cultural differences, and affecting political and social change.  There are no prerequisites and the course is open to students from all classes and majors.

Special topics course titles and descriptions may change.  May be repeated for credit.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.

COM 395 - Independent Study

COM 495 - Communication Theory and Research

The capstone course for the Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.  The study of a variety of theories of communication as they frame questions and enable the discovery of answers.  Theories cover basic conceptions of the communication process in interpersonal, public, and mass communication.  These theories, and exemplary research growing from them, provide the basis for the investigation of key questions concerning processes of communication. The course culminates in a major project bringing together a variety of theoretical perspectives.  

Prerequisites & Notes
Students must have completed COM 201 and should have completed all other requirements for the interdisciplinary minor, although COM 101 or one elective may be taken concurrently.
Instructor’s permission required. 
Majors may register for COM 495 by permission only.
(Spring)

CSC 108 - Explorations in Computer Science

Satisfies Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
This course is not open to students with prior credit for (or concurrently enrolled in) any computer science course (including PHYS 200 and BIO 209) or any one of MAT 220, MAT 230 or MAT 255. No previous experience with computing is needed or assumed.

CSC 110 - Data Science and Society

An introduction to methods of data science, including computer programming, data visualization, and statistical analysis. Students will collect, process, analyze, and present data in order to expose and help each other understand issues of social and economic justice. All work will be done in R, a freely available data analysis software package.

Satisfies a Mathematical & Quantitative Thought requirement.
Satisfies an elective requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor (optional introductory course to the minor).
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

CSC 120 - Programming in Humanities (= DIG 120)

Computational methods have significantly broadened and deepened the possibilities of inquiry in the Humanities. Programming skills have allowed textual scholars, in particular, to take advantage of enormous digitized corpora of historical documents, newspapers, novels, books, and social network data like Twitter feeds to pose new questions to the written word. We can now trace the changing semantics of words and phrases across millions of documents and hundreds of years, visualize centuries-old plot structures in new ways through sentiment analysis and character networks, and solve long-standing riddles of authorship attribution-among many other exciting feats. This course offers an introduction to computer science through applications in the Humanities. Students will learn to program in the Wolfram Language, aka Mathematica. The Wolfram Language is especially well suited for humanists: its rich documentation and natural language processing capabilities ensure a gentle introduction for first-time programmers, its symbolic computation structure allows us to work with texts written in any language and any alphabet, while its Notebook environment provides an interactive medium for publishing and sharing our results with peers. Mathematica also provides a great springboard for further work in computer science, physical computing, and Digital Studies more broadly.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Computer Science.
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. 

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to students with credit for CSC 121, CSC 200 (= PHY 200), or CSC 209 (= BIO 209).

(Spring)

CSC 121 - Programming and Problem Solving

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to students with credit for CSC 120 (= DIG 120), CSC 200 (=PHY 200), or CSC 209 (= BIO 209).

CSC 200 - Computational Physics (= PHY 200)

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Physics 120 or 130 at Davidson, or permission of the instructor.  (Spring)

CSC 209 - Bioinformatics Programming (= BIO 209)

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Does not carry Mathematics major credit. 
Not open to students with credit for CSC 120 (=DIG 120), CSC 121 or CSC 200 (= PHY 200).  

CSC 210 - Mathematical Modeling (=MAT 210)

Counts as an elective in the Mathematics major.
Counts as an Applications elective in the Computer Science major.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 140 or MAT 150, and one of CSC 120, CSC 121, CSC 200, or CSC 209.

CSC 220 - Discrete Structures (= MAT 220)

(Cross-listed as MAT 220) 

An introduction to proof techniques and discrete mathematics, with a focus on topics relevant to computer science, and an introduction to functional programming. Topics include logic, sets, functions, equivalence relations, algorithm analysis, methods of proof, essential combinatorics, recurrence relations, and discrete probability, as well as the essentials of functional programming. Additional topics may be selected from graph theory, number theory, or automata theory. This course prepares students for advanced work in both computer science and mathematics.

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.
Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 140, MAT 150, or MAT 160, and the ability to program in a high-level language such as Python, C++, or Java at the level expected in CSC 121 or an equivalent course.

CSC 221 - Data Structures

Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Computer Science 121, 200, 209, or permission of instructor.

CSC 250 - Computer Organization

An introduction to how digital computers are built and the process by which computer programs expressed in a high-level language are translated into signals to be routed on a digital circuit board. Topics include data representation and manipulation, digital logic building blocks (logic gates, flip-flops), computer memory, assembly and machine code, hardware components and their organization, and the C programming language. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Requires the ability to program in a high-level language such as Python, C++, Java etc., at the level expected in CSC 121 or an equivalent course.

Does not carry Mathematics major credit.

CSC 312 - Software Design

Satisfies a requirement in the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CSC 221

CSC 315 - Numerical Analysis (= MAT 315)

Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 150 and MAT 235, and proficiency in some programming language. (Spring)

CSC 321 - Analysis of Algorithms

Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes

CSC 221 and CSC/MAT 220, or permission of instructor. 

CSC 322 - Programming Languages