Courses
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CAS PH 350: History of Ethics
Are there fundamental principles for determining the right way to act ethically? How do different eras answer this question? What is the significance of these differences? This course addresses these questions by examining classical ethical texts from different historical traditions. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PH 360: Symbolic Logic
A survey of the concepts and principles of symbolic logic: valid and invalid arguments, logical relations of statements and their basis in structural features of statements, analysis of the logical structure of complex statements of ordinary discourse, and the use of a symbolic language to display logical structure and to facilitate methods for assessing the logical structure of arguments. The course is an introduction to first-order quantificational logic, a key tool underlying work in foundations of mathematics, philosophy of language and mind, philosophy of science and parts of syntax. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PH 461: Mathematical Logic
The investigation of logical reasoning with mathematical methods. The syntax and semantics of sentential logic and quantificational logic. The unifying Godel Completeness Theorem, and models of theories. A look at the Godel Incompleteness Theorem and its ramifications. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings. -
CAS PO 111: Introduction to American Politics
Undergraduate core course. Study of the national political structure; emphasis on Congress, the executive, administrative agencies, and the judiciary. Relations between formal institutions, parties, and interest groups. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry . -
CAS PO 141: Introduction to Public Policy
What are public policies? Where do they come from? What are their effects? In this course, we grapple with these questions. We also examine the question: how do the politics of public policy affect racial and economic inequality? Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry I. -
CAS PO 151: Introduction to Comparative Politics
Undergraduate core course. Meets with CAS IR 251. Examines different patterns of political development and contemporary politics in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Introduces the comparative method in political science and competing theories of political development and political change. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS PO 171: Introduction to International Relations
Explores major issues in international relations, including conflict, cooperation, and governance. Addresses dominant international relations theories and their application. Investigates state system, international law and organization, transnational actors, state behavior, and globalization. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS PO 191: Introduction to Political Theory
Fundamental questions of political life are addressed by analyzing works of political philosophy. Historical and contemporary events and issues illustrate and complicate analysis of conceptions of authority, justice, liberty, and equality. Many definitions of government, law, and rights are considered. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PO 307: Public Opinion in American Politics
Public opinion is a central component of democratic politics; in this course we study public opinion in the United States. In addition to this substantive focus, the course is intended to foster the development of two skills: critical reading and rigorous, careful and clear writing. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry I. -
CAS PO 313: The Politics and Policy of HBO's The Wire
HBO's television series The Wire is used to explore politics and policy. A number of interdisciplinary topics are covered, including the war on drugs, urban elections, bureaucracy, rational choice theory, and the decline of American cities. Also offered as CAS AA 313 This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning. -
CAS PO 316: Race and the Politics of Criminal Justice Policy
How many people are affected by the criminal justice system? What is the relationship between crime and race? What criminal justice policies, if any, should change? In this course, students grapple with these questions. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning. -
CAS PO 381: History of American Foreign Relations since 1898
Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area(s): Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II. -
CAS PO 384: Global Governance and International Organization
Provides an overview of major theoretical perspectives on the creation and function of international organizations, comparative case studies of selected organizations, and an examination of present and future roles of international organizations in selected issue areas. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS PO 394: Catastrophe & Memory
Examines the ways in which catastrophes, both natural and social, enter into cultural memory. Goal is to understand how events that seem to defy comprehension are represented in works of art and given a place in the memory of a culture. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS PS 101: General Psychology
Basic introduction to field of psychology; topics include theories and findings governing learning, memory, perception, development, personality, social and abnormal psychology. Three hours large lecture and one hour discussion section or three hours of small lecture class with no discussion sections. Students are required to participate as subjects in psychology studies. 4 cr. either sem. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PS 211: Introduction to Experimental Design
Introduction to the logic and processes involved in descriptive and inferential statistics for psychology. Topics include statistical inference, significance, t-tests, ANOVAs, correlation, regression, and statistical software analysis. This is a hybrid class - class time is reserved for hands on activities. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I. -
CAS PS 212: Introduction to MATLAB Programming for Research in Psychological & Brain Sciences
Teaches computer programming concepts, core statistical concepts, and related skills via MATLAB. Programming examples that cover four steps of neuroscience research (experiment control; random samples; data analysis; brain process simulation) promote "constructive" understanding of the quantitative reasoning behind decisions based on descriptive and inferential statistics (e.g., confidence intervals, linear regression models, model-specific anovas). Explains numerical integration programs in two settings: probability distributions, and simulations of neural dynamics. Also listed as CAS NE 212 This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PS 222: Perception
How do we perceive the world around us? In this course, we'll explore vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste and find out how the brain constructs our perceptual experience from light, sound, pressure, and chemicals in the world. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area(s): Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PS 231: Physiological Psychology
Structure and function of the nervous system and how it controls behavior. Basic neuroanatomy, cellular basis of neurotransmission and physiological aspects of sensation. Mechanisms of simple and complex cognitive neural function and the biological underpinnings of major psychiatric disorders. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PS 234: Psychology of Learning
How do we learn to associate stimuli together? How do we learn to associate behaviors with their consequences? How is memory applicable to learning? What are the different memory processes and systems responsible for learning? The aim of this course is to review the major traditional and current theories of learning and memory. Students will begin with an understanding of simple learning, including theories and basic principles of classical and operant conditioning. Students will then be introduced to the memory system, the three stages of memory, implicit and explicit memory processes. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
