Time Schedule:
Charles F Jackels
BIS 300
Bothell Campus
Introduction to advanced work in interdisciplinary studies centered on broadly based questions and problems. Stresses the skills necessary to engage in upper-division research and learning in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program.
Class description
General Description of BIS 300 in Spring 2006 (C. Jackels).
This course is designed to introduce students to the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) Program and to concepts of interdisciplinary knowledge more generally. It will be organized around the general theme of “water,” which will be addressed from scientific, environmental, political, social, and cultural perspectives. In their prior course work in mathematics, sciences, social sciences, and humanities, students should have begun to develop the fundamental quantitative and qualitative skills employed in academic writing, research, and critical thinking. In this course, students will further develop those skills as they investigate the nature and importance of water from multiple perspectives.
Specific goals of this course include:
1. An introduction to the science and natural history of water. 2. An introduction to the interplay of culture, the environment, power, and politics with the US and World freshwater resources. 3. An awareness of the implications of the limited fresh water resource to the future population growth of the world. 4. Development of computer, library, reading, and writing skills necessary for student success at UWB.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Lecture, discussion, group work, readings, and writing.
Recommended preparation
General lower-division course work in mathematics, sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Class assignments and grading
Reading of papers and textbooks, library research, a mixture of short and medium-length writing assignments, homework problem assignments relating to the natural history of water, and maintenance of a journal containing notes from class and required readings.
Exams, written papers, class participation, and class journal.
