Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

  • MET BI 203: Cell Biology (CM)
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET BI 108 and MET CH 102.
    Principles of cellular organization and function: biological molecules, enzymes, bioenergetics, membranes, motility, regulatory mechanisms. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Critical Thinking
  • MET BI 206: Genetics (CM)
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET BI 108; or equivalent.
    MET CH 203 recommended. Principles of heredity as derived from genetic, biochemical, and cytological evidence in animals, plants, and microorganisms. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Critical Thinking
  • MET BI 210: Human Anatomy
    Gross structure of the human body; skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems. Three hours lecture, two hours lab (lab requires dissection). Cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title formerly numbered MET BI 106. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Scientific Inquiry I, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Creativity/Innovation
  • MET BI 211: Human Physiology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET BI 105; or equivalent. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
    Designed for non-biology majors. Introduction to physiology. Principles of physiology with special reference to humans. Laboratory course. Three hours lecture, three hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Critical Thinking
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • MET BI 303: Ecology (EBE)
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET BI 107.
    Basic principles of ecology, population dynamics and behavior, interrelationships of plants and animals and their physical and chemical environment. Structure and function of ecosystems and community dynamics. Laboratory course. Three hours lecture, three hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Quantitative Reasoning II, Scientific Inquiry II.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • MET BI 315: Systems Physiology (PER/NEURO)
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET BI 108 and MET BI 203; First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
    An introduction to the basic physiological principles applied across all levels of organization (cell, tissue, organ system) and intended to prepare the student for more advanced courses in physiology. Topics include homeostasis, neural, muscle, cardiopulmonary, renal, endocrine, and reproductive physiology. Three hours lecture, three hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Critical Thinking
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • MET BI 366: Neuroscience of Human Cognition: Imagination, Language, and Consciousness
    Your brain is a bizarre device, set in place through natural selection of your ancestors and your own experience. One thing that clearly separates your brain from the brain of any other non-human animal is the propensity of your brain for imagination and creativity. In this class we will dive into the neuroscience of imagination: from neurons to memory to neurological mechanism of generating novel conscious experiences. We will study what makes your brain unique and the selectional forces that shaped the brains of our ancestors. We will discuss what makes human language special and how it evolved. This interdisciplinary class is intended for paleoanthropologists who want to learn neuroscience, psychologists who are interested in the question of the origin of language, biologists who are interested in the uniqueness of the human mind, neuroscientists who want an exposure to paleoanthropology and linguistics, philosophers fascinated by neurological basis of behavior and other students interested in an understanding of the mind of a man and the evolution of the brain. Prerequisites: NE101. Students cannot take both METBI566 and METBI366 for credit. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Critical Thinking
  • MET BI 407: Animal Behavior (EBE)
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET BI 107; or equivalent.
    Ethological approach to animal behavior, including humans; physiological, ontogenetic, and phylogenetic causes and adaptive significance of behavior within an evolutionary framework. Laboratory course. Three hours lecture, three hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • MET BI 491: Research in Biology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing, minimum GPA of 3.0 (B) in biology, consent of instructor, and approval of research outline by Department of Biology.
    Laboratory or field research projects in biology may be chosen under supervision of Department of Biology. Minimum 12 hours per week in laboratory or fieldwork, not including preparation or evaluation time. Both semesters of research may count toward concentration credit in biology if two semesters of work are completed.
  • MET BI 492: Research in Biology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing, minimum GPA of 3.0 (B) in biology, consent of instructor, and approval of research outline by Department of Biology.
    Laboratory or field research projects in biology may be chosen under supervision of Department of Biology. Minimum 12 hours per week in laboratory or fieldwork, not including preparation or evaluation time. Both semesters of research may count toward concentration credit in biology if two semesters of work are completed.
  • MET CH 101: General Chemistry I
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two years of high school algebra.
    For science concentrators, premedical students, and students in related fields. Stoichiometry, states of matter, acids and bases, equilibrium, and selected chemical systems. Laboratory course. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion, three hours lab per week, and one hour postlab discussion per week. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • MET CH 102: General Chemistry II
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET CH 101; or equivalent.
    For science concentrators, premedical students, and students in related fields. Covers thermodynamics, atomic structure and bonding, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, and selected chemical systems. Laboratory course. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion, three hours lab, and one hour postlab discussion per week. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • MET CH 171: Principles of General Chemistry
    Introduction to chemistry: separation and purification of matter, atomic theory, structure of atoms, molecules and chemical bonding, chemical formulas, equations, stoichiometry; water, solutions, concentration, acids, bases, pH and buffers; gases; reaction kinetics and equilibrium, and radioactivity. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion, one hour prelab lecture, and three hours lab. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • MET CH 172: Principles of Organic and Biochemistry
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCH171 OR (METCH101 & METCH102))
    Introduction to organic and biochemistry: Classes of organic compounds and biomolecules; nomenclature, physical properties and reactions of organic molecules; techniques for synthesizing, isolating and characterizing molecules; structure, reactivity and properties of carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids; structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids and membranes; and the biochemical pathways associated with sugar and lipid metabolism. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion, one hour pre-lab lecture, and three hours lab. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Scientific Inquiry II.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • MET CH 203: Organic Chemistry I
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET CH 102; or equivalent.
    Fundamentals of contemporary organic chemistry, including skeletal and electronic structure, stereochemistry, and reactions of important functional groups. Applications of organic reactions to important synthetic targets in materials and drug discovery will be highlighted, as will reactions pertinent to biochemistry. Laboratory includes training in basic organic chemistry skills, such as extraction, reaction performance, spectroscopy interpretation and chromatography. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • MET CH 204: Organic Chemistry II
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET CH 102; or equivalent.
    Structure and reactivity of organic compounds. Synthesis, reaction mechanisms, bonding, stereochemistry, laboratory methods. Coverage of the families of organic compounds, including molecules of biological interest. Laboratory course. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • MET CH 351: Physical Chemistry I
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET CH 102 or CAS CH 102 ; CAS CH 108 or CAS CH 110 or CAS CH 112 ; MET PY 211 ; MET MA 124.
    Undergraduate Corequisites: MET PY 212 and MET MA 225.
    Quantum Theory, atomic and molecular structure, molecular spectroscopy, statistical mechanics, solid state chemistry. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion.
  • MET CH 352: Physical Chemistry II
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET CH 102 or CAS CH 102 ; CAS CH 108 or CAS CH 110 or CAS CH 112 ; MET PY 211 ; MET MA 124.
    Undergraduate Corequisites: MET PY 212 and MET MA 225.
    Introduction to thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics. Applications include electrochemistry, phase transitions, catalysts, aqueous solutions and polymers. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion.
  • MET CH 373: Principles of Biochemistry
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: BI 105 or BI 108; and CH 204 or CH 174; or equivalent.
    Introductory biochemistry focusing on structure/function with applications to medicine, nutrition, and biotechnology, including acid/base chemistry, protein structure, enzyme mechanisms, thermodynamics, and kinetics; nucleic acid structure/function, lipids and carbohydrates; bioenergetics of glycolysis and oxidative energy metabolism; lipid and nitrogen metabolism. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion.
  • MET CH 421: Biochemistry I
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
    Prereq: CAS CH 204, CH 212, CH 214, or CH 282. Introductory biochemistry. Protein structure and folding, enzyme mechanisms, kinetics, and allostery; nucleic acid structure; lipids and membrane structure; bioenergetics; vitamins and coenzymes; introduction to intermediary metabolism. Students must register for two sections: lecture and laboratory. Meets with CAS CH 421. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Critical Thinking
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
    • Writing-Intensive Course