General Chemistry I
This course provides introduction and development of fundamental concepts including stoichiometry, reactions in aqueous solutions, thermochemistry, atomic structure, chemical bonding, and acid-base reactions. The laboratory emphasizes basic skills, quantitative chemical measurements, and principles discussed in lectures.
Intro to New Testament
Introduction to the New Testament investigates the social and historical context of first- and early second-century Christianity, examines New Testament and select non-canonical documents, and introduces you to the principal methods of New Testament studies. In the course of the semester you will read the works that make up most modern collections of the New Testament, a number of early Christian documents that did not make the final cut, and several ancient non-Christian sources.
Philosophy of Law
This course is an inquiry into questions concerning the nature of 'justice,' 'law,' and the relationship between the two from the point of view of various schools of legal thought like natural law theory, positivism, utilitarianism, legal realism, critical race studies, and feminist theory. We will examine questions like 'Is there a duty to obey, or sometimes disobey, the law?' and 'What do we mean by 'equality' or 'rights'?' within the context of contemporary legal issues like affirmative action, abortion, and same-sex marriage.
Advanced Logic
This course uses the predicate calculus to present a careful development of formal elementary number theory, and elementary recursion theory, culminating in a proof of Gödel's incompleteness results. It includes some discussion of the philosophical significance of these results for the foundations of mathematics.
Philosophy of the Arts
The purpose of this course is to explore philosophical problems concerning the arts and aesthetic experience. Some questions to be explored include: What is the difference between beauty and moral goodness? Can artistic taste be objective? What does it mean for a work of music to be 'sad'? Are the intentions of artists relevant to appreciation? What is the purpose of art criticism? How do pictures represent their objects? Readings will be drawn from both historical and contemporary philosophical writings.