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The courses listed herein have been approved by the faculty as authorized by the Board of Trustees. Prerequisites (if any) and the General Education Requirement(s) which each course fulfills (if any) are noted following each course description.
2.00 credit hours An applied study of important technical and pedagogical concepts concerning the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Assessments require the student to demonstrate (1) basic playing proficiency on each instrument; (2) teaching proficiency through teaching exhibitions; and (3) a pedagogical understanding of the technical requirements and characteristics of each instrument.
2.00 credit hours An applied study of important technical and pedagogical concepts concerning mallet percussion, drums, and accessory percussion. Assessments require the student to demonstrate (1) basic playing proficiency on each instrument; (2) teaching proficiency through teaching exhibitions; and (3) a pedagogical understanding of the technical requirements and characteristics of each instrument.
MUED 250 - Instructional Methods for the Choral Teacher
2.00 credit hours An introduction to the techniques and methods for building and maintaining an instrumental program within the K-12 school setting for the choral music education major.
MUED 251 - Choral Methods for the Instrumental Teacher
2.00 credit hours An introduction to the techniques and methods for building and maintaining a choral music program within the K-12 school setting for the instrumental music education major.
4.00 credit hours A study of curriculum, teaching methods, pedagogy, and class design for general music classes at the elementary and middle school level. An experiential, practical approach which includes lecture, reading, writing, and student-led collaborative learning activities. Assessments require the student to demonstrate: (1) theoretical understanding and content knowledge through written, oral, and teaching assignments; and (2) critical thinking and problem-solving skills through self- and peer-evaluation. Classroom environment, diversity and social justice as related to the general music experience is also covered.
4.00 credit hours The advanced study of conducting techniques, principles, and practices for conductors of instrumental ensembles. Includes rehearsal design, classroom management, leadership and administration of instrumental music programs. An experiential, practical approach which includes lecture, reading, writing, and student-led collaborative learning activities. Assessments require the student to demonstrate an advanced level of: (1) theoretical understanding and content knowledge through written, oral, and conducting assignments; and (2) critical thinking and problem-solving skills through self- and peer-evaluation. Classroom environment, diversity and social justice as related to the instrumental experience is also covered.
4.00 credit hours The advanced study of conducting techniques, principles, and practices for conductors of choral ensembles. Includes rehearsal design, classroom management, leadership, and administration of choral music programs. An experiential, practical approach which includes lecture, reading, writing, and student-led collaborative learning activities. Assessments require the student to demonstrate an advanced level of: (1) theoretical understanding and content knowledge through written, oral, and conducting assignments; and (2) critical thinking and problem-solving skills through self- and peer-evaluation. Classroom environment, diversity and social justice as related to the choral experience is also covered.
4.00 credit hours A study of curriculum, teaching methods, pedagogy, and class design for performance music classes at the middle and high school level. An experiential, practical approach which includes lecture, reading, writing, and student-led collaborative learning activities. Assessments require the student to demonstrate: (1) theoretical understanding and content knowledge through written, oral, and teaching assignments; and (2) critical thinking and problem-solving skills through self- and peer-evaluation. Classroom environment, diversity and social justice as related to the performance class experience is also covered.
Music ensembles are open to all North Central students regardless of major. An audition may be required.
MUEN 100 - Cardinal Chorus
0.00-0.50 credit hours Cardinal Chorus is dedicated to the study and performance of a wide variety of repertoire and the development of foundational choral and vocal skills such as sight-reading, tone color, choral diction, blend and balance. Each semester includes at least two on-campus performances with occasional off-campus events annually. No audition required but a voice placement will take place before the start of rehearsals.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Concert Choir is a 40-member mixed voice ensemble performing a diverse repertoire of the finest choral literature for large ensembles. Each semester includes at least two on-campus performances as well as occasional off-campus events or collaborations with professional orchestras. Membership is by audition.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Women’s Chorale is a 35-member women’s voice ensemble performing an eclectic repertoire, including new and non-western music, sometimes theatrically staged. Each semester includes at least two on-campus performances as well as occasional off-campus events or collaborations with professional orchestras. Membership is by audition.
0.00-0.50 credit hours The Naperville Chorus is dedicated to the performance of large-scale musical works, with orchestral accompaniment and professional soloists. Membership is open without audition to anyone with previous singing experience.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Chamber Singers is a select, 18-member mixed voice ensemble performing the widest variety of western, non-western, contemporary and traditional repertoire suitable for chamber ensembles, often performed without conductor. Each semester includes at least two on-campus performances, with occasional off-campus events annually. Membership is by audition.
1.00 credit hours A basic study of performance techniques for the singer of musical theatre and opera, designed to give students experience in singing and acting through study and active participation in works of the musical stage. This course is repeatable.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Operating in the Fall Semester as the “Cardinal Marching Band/Color Guard” and Spring Semester as the “Cardinal Basketball Band/Winter Guard”, these ensembles provide spirit and atmosphere at NCC athletic events. Fall Semester involves participation in summer band camp, twice per week rehearsals and performances at all home football games and select campus events. The end of Fall Semester and the beginning of Spring Semester involves once-per-week rehearsals and performances at home basketball games. Students may participate in one semester or both. Ability to commit to all performances is absolutely mandatory.
0.00-0.50 credit hours The Symphony Band performs a wide variety of music while focusing on the development of fundamental instrumental and ensemble skills. The Symphony Band performs on campus at least once a semester. No audition is required; however, auditions are held for placement within the sections and for section leaders.
Prerequisite(s): Ability to play standard band instrument.
0.00-0.50 credit hours The DuPage Symphony Orchestra in residence at Wentz Concert Hall and is a community ensemble involving members of the surrounding community, students, and professionals.
Prerequisite(s): Ability to play standard band instrument.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Concert Winds performs a wide variety of music, including new music and works from the standard repertoire. Concert performances are scheduled both on and off campus. Auditions are held for placement in the ensemble.
Prerequisite(s): Ability to play standard band instrument.
0.00-0.50 credit hours The study and performance of string orchestra and chamber orchestra literature. Each term culminates in one or more public performances.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Large jazz ensemble performing classic and contemporary jazz arrangements. Performs a minimum of three concerts per year on campus.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Faculty-led jazz chamber ensemble performing classic and contemporary jazz repertoire set for rhythm section, horns and/or vocalists. Performs a minimum of three concerts per year on campus.
0.00-0.50 credit hours Vocal ensemble of 8-12 voices performing classic and contemporary jazz arrangements. Performs a minimum of three concerts per year on campus.
0.00-0.50 credit hours A variety of instrumental and vocal chamber ensembles, such as brass and woodwind quartets, string quartet or a cappella groups. Changes annually.
4.00 credit hours An introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system and human brain. Topics include brain anatomy, function of nerve cells, neural communication, neuroscience methods, sensory and motor behavior, systems, and sleep. Gateway course. Laboratory required.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Sciences. iCon(s): Being Human.
4.00 credit hours An examination of the manner in which genetic, environmental, biochemical, and physiological factors contribute to the neurological basis of behavior. Special attention is given to neural contributions of reproduction, psychopharmacology, fear, learning, stress, ingestion, communication, memory, and psychiatric disorders.
4.00 credit hours An examination of the dynamic relationship between how drugs act on the brain and behavior. Topics include the properties of drug action, differentiating drug use and drug dependence, physical versus psychological dependence, as well as the legal and social implications of drug use. A range of legal and illegal drugs such as stimulants, depressants, alcohol, opiates, hallucinogens, and pharmaceutical drugs are investigated.
Prerequisite(s): NEUR 100 or PSYC 100. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Social Sciences, U.S. Power Structures. iCon(s): Being Human, Examining Health.
1.00-6.00 credit hours Students work in collaboration with faculty on ongoing research. Activities vary according to project needs and student background, but may include collection or creation of materials, recruitment of participants, data collection, data coding and entry, literature review, statistical analysis, poster or oral presentation preparation. This course is graded pass/no pass. May be taken more than once for up to six credit hours.
Prerequisite(s): NEUR 100. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Experiential.
0.00-12.00 credit hours Valuable professional experiences supplement classroom instruction and allow students to apply neuroscience concepts to broader social issues and system. Students explore career options within neuroscience and critically reflect on the experience in a structured manner. Course work includes required hours in the field and written assignments.
Prerequisite(s): NEUR 100. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Experiential.
4.00 credit hours Students investigate the neuronal underpinnings of behavior in organisms ranging from invertebrates to humans. Material focuses on the relationship between nervous system function and the resulting behavioral output in neurological and developmental disorders. These disorders are analyzed through various lenses incorporating primary literature with classical and cutting edge neuroscience models and techniques. This course requires an intensive, vertebrate-based laboratory.
Prerequisite(s): NEUR 200; Concurrent enrollment in NEUR 301. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Writing Intensive, Career Experiential.
1.00 credit hours Advances in neuroscience have brought about several ethical questions surrounding the utilization and implementation of techniques and discoveries in vertebrates and humans. Accompanying the NEUR 300 laboratory, students are educated and trained in the ethical use of vertebrates in research. An examination of the ethical boundaries when utilizing novel and experimental techniques to treat developmental and neurological disorders will supplement NEUR 300 course material.
4.00 credit hours Examination of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of neuronal communication in organisms ranging from invertebrates to humans. Topics include the fundamental properties of excitable membranes, synaptic transmission, and neuronal integration. These topics are investigated utilizing classical and cutting edge molecular neuroscience techniques in this vertebrate based laboratory intensive course.
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 210 and NEUR 200; Concurrent enrollment in NEUR 311. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Writing Intensive, Career Experiential.
1.00 credit hours Neuroethics studies the moral issues arising in connection with advances in neuroscience. Examination of the ethical boundaries when utilizing novel and experimental molecular techniques in both vertebrates and humans. Course material complements NEUR 310. In the NEUR 310 laboratory, students are educated and trained in the ethics of molecular neuroscience research.
4.00 credit hours An in-depth study of a specific topic in neuroscience. Students are expected to read and discuss original sources and current literature in neuroscience, culminating in an APA style paper. Repeatable with different content. Capstone.
1.00-4.00 credit hours A community engagement project in neuroscience that serves as the culminating neuroscience curriculum experience. Students are expected to arrange the community engagement experience, design materials for the engagement experience and analyze the effectiveness of this experience. A final paper (traditional APA-style research report or audience-specific research report) incorporating primary literature, appropriate quantitative or qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of the experience, and reflection is required. To fulfill the capstone experience, students must complete a minimum of four credit
hours from a single capstone designation. Capstone.
Prerequisite(s): PSYC 255 and NEUR 200. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Community Engaged Learning.
0.00-12.00 credit hours Valuable professional experiences supplement classroom instruction and allow students to apply neuroscience concepts to broader social issues and systems. Students explore career options within neuroscience, and critically reflect on the experience in a structured manner. Course work includes required hours in the field, written assignments, and a substantial APA style literature review/hypothesis paper directly related to this experience. To fulfill the capstone experience, students must complete a minimum of four credit hours from a single capstone designation. Capstone.
Prerequisite(s): PSYC 255 and NEUR 200. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Experiential.
1.00-4.00 credit hours Students work in collaboration with faculty to produce a culminating research experience. Activities vary according to project needs and student background, but may include creation of materials or agents, recruitment of participants, animal care, data collection, data coding and entry, literature review, statistical analysis, poster or oral presentation preparation. The senior thesis culminates in a APA style research paper. Students earning credit for a capstone experience must complete a minimum of four credit hours, with the option of spreading credit hours over two semesters. To fulfill the capstone experience, students must complete a minimum of four credit hours from a single capstone designation. Capstone.
Prerequisite(s): PSYC 255, NEUR 200 and NEUR 295. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Experiential.
1.00-12.00 credit hours Students explore a topic of interest in an individualized learning situation under the supervision of a faculty member. Coursework includes significant critical reading, writing, and discussion of primary resources (no collection of data).
4.00 credit hours Introduces the role of nutrition in human biological systems as related to human health. The types of nutrients in foods, their properties and interaction with genetics, the environment and health risk are addressed. Human nutrient requirements and the composition of healthy diets are also discussed within a cultural context. How nutritional guidelines are developed, assessed and the role of the nutritional professional in health promotion is also explored
4.00 credit hours Provides an overview of food systems in the United States from agriculture to food production and processing. The impact of food system practices on human health, food insecurity and the environment is examined and contrasted with other global food systems. The accessibility and availability of food across populations in the United States is discussed as well as the sustainability of current food trends. Food safety is also examined from a “farm to fork” perspective highlighting potential health hazards in the modern food industry.
4.00 credit hours Nutrition requirements, considerations and health risks are examined across the human life cycle from birth to senescence. Early development, growth, maturation and aging are discussed in relationship to nutrition, food and lifestyle choices. Health disparities, cultural, environmental, psychosocial, physical, and economic factors affecting nutritional status through the life cycle are explored.
4.00 credit hours The study of nutrients is continued through a biochemical and biological perspective by examining the process of digestion, absorption and metabolism. Biochemical principles of nutrition and metabolism are discussed in relation to the body’s normal state of nourishment as well as in altered disease states.
4.00 credit hours Food science principles related to food preparation are examined, including the chemical, physical and sensory properties of foods. Emphasis is placed on food preparation techniques and practices and their impact on the nutritional content of foods. Altering food preparation techniques based on health or economic concerns are discussed in the context of food science and
food quality. Experiential learning through food preparation and demonstration will connect food science and sensory evaluation techniques with nutrition and food science concepts.
2.00 credit hours Explores food cultures and eating traditions in the United States and Globally. Nutrition principles are applied to evaluate healthy eating behaviors and diet quality across cultures. Barriers to adopting unfamiliar eating traditions or incorporating unfamiliar foods into the diet are discussed and current dietary guidelines are evaluated for cultural diversity. Students complete a project that adapts a nutrition education tool to reflect different food cultures.
2.00 credit hours Examines how cooking can be used to enhance behavior change for health lifestyles. Topics include eating behavior at home or dining out in the United States, incorporating cooking demonstrations/active education into nutrition education, nutrition comparisons of processed and home cooked foods and tasting assessments. Small groups of students will create and demonstrate an active cooking/food preparation lesson.
4.00 credit hours Basic concepts related to professional ethics, inter-professional collaboration and the scope of practice for nutritional professionals are explored. Assessment tools and methods for screening and assessing nutritional status, evaluating diet/nutrient intake and eating behavior are introduced. Emphasis will be placed on the nutrition care process and how assessments and plans are documented in the medical record and communicated with other health care professionals.
Prerequisite(s): NUTR 101. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Preparation.
4.00 credit hours The role of the nutrition professional in community settings is explored with a focus on needs assessment, intervention, development and evaluation of nutrition programs. Nutrition problems in contemporary American communities, as well as developing nations, are examined with a focus on vulnerable populations and the role nutrition policy plays on the local, state and national level. Programs and strategies to meet nutrition needs outside acute care settings, such as nutrition education and food assistance are explored. Experiential learning opportunities through health initiatives on campus or in the community provide students an avenue to apply assessment and intervention techniques.
4.00 credit hours Students apply evidence-based knowledge of nutritional interventions to the prevention and management of diseases related to energy imbalance, cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal diseases. Topics explored include medical terminology, clinical laboratory values, nutritional assessment, menu planning, behavioral interventions and dietary analysis as they relate to these disease states. Emphasis will be placed on the nutrition care process, therapy options within a cultural context and indications for referral when the condition warrants specialized care. Opportunities to apply concepts are provided through the use of case studies, standardized patients and client interactions.
Prerequisite(s): NUTR 101 and NUTR 301. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Experiential.
2.00 credit hours Examines the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research methods and designs found in nutrition research. Students will apply knowledge through analysis of research papers and by rating the strength of findings, as well as developing study designs for nutrition research questions. Emphasis is placed on developing critical thinking skills and analyzing key elements of research designs related to nutrition practice.
2.00 credit hours Research concepts presented in Nutrition Research I will be applied through the development and participation in research projects. Collection, analysis and interpretation of data found in health or community settings will be the focus of the course. Topics explored include survey design, qualitative interviews and simple data analysis. Students will complete a project using one of these research methods.
2.00 credit hours Reviews specialty areas of nutrition practice including critical care, pediatrics, geriatrics, obesity, sports nutrition, diabetes, eating disorders, food service management, food product development, etc. Students will choose an area they are interested in, research it and present opportunities for nutrition careers and the scope of practice within that area of nutrition to the class.
4.00 credit hours Principles of food preparation related to quantity food production and service are examined, including care and operation of equipment, ordering/storing foods and other goods, menu development, food costing and managerial responsibilities required for food service. Students apply quantity food principles, sustainability, nutrition and management principles to planning and executing a meal service in a campus dining or catering facility.
4.00 credit hours The study of evidenced-based knowledge related to the prevention and management of specific disease states continues with the examination of nutritional interventions for endocrine, renal, neurological, respiratory, metabolic, musculoskeletal and neoplastic diseases. Topics explored include medical terminology, clinical laboratory values, nutritional assessment, menu planning and dietary analysis as they relate to these disease states. Emphasis will be placed on the nutrition care process, therapy options and the use of enteral and parenteral nutrition in the critically ill. Opportunities to apply concepts are provided through the use of case studies, standardized patients and client interactions.
Prerequisite(s): NUTR 315. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Experiential.
4.00 credit hours Various strategies are explored to assist individuals in making changes to health behavior related to food and nutrition with emphasis on nutrition education and counseling. Approaches are based on theoretical behavior change models, teaching and learning styles and other behavioral concepts. Students will actively apply techniques through case studies, hypothetical situations and supervised counseling opportunities. Application of principles will occur through group nutrition education exercises and direct interactions with clients.
NUTR 470 - Capstone: Nutrition Myths and Controversies
4.00 credit hours Using integrated knowledge obtained through nutrition science course work, students will choose a nutrition-related health app, diet program or cuisine to evaluate depending on their area of interest. Evaluation includes adhering to the diet program, using the app or preparing and consuming the cuisine for two to four weeks, assessing the program/app/cuisine for safety, nutrition or health outcomes, potential for behavior change and cost-effectiveness. Students will present their findings through a presentation in an open forum.
4.00 credit hours An examination of basic questions in philosophy, such as how we can know anything, whether God exists, how moral judgments can be justified, whether people have souls and whether people have free will.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions. iCon(s): Being Human, Engaging Civic Life.
4.00 credit hours Professional ethics in selected career fields including law, business and biomedicine. Students may apply basic concepts to the career of their choice, relate their personal ethics to professional ethics and become better informed consumers of professional services. This course begins with an examination of the alternative bases for making moral judgments.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions. iCon(s): Innovating the World.
4.00 credit hours (Same as: ENVI 225.) After a brief examination of philosophical ethical frameworks, the following will be considered: the history of environmental ethics; the problem of the “moral status” of nonhuman animals and other aspects of nature: the environment and “the good life,” ethical issues related to population growth, sustainability, diminishing/vanishing resources and the use of cost benefit analysis in environmental policy.
4.00 credit hours An examination of inductive and deductive reasoning, formal and informal fallacies and rules and procedures for evaluating arguments.
4.00 credit hours An introduction to existentialism as a 19th and 20th century philosophical and literary movement. Authors discussed typically include Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions. iCon(s): Being Human.
4.00 credit hours An introduction to the concept of law, including such topics as the nature of law, liberty and law, justice, legal responsibility, punishment and theories of legal interpretation.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 203 or one Philosophy course. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions, U.S. Power Structures. iCon(s): Challenging Inequity.
4.00 credit hours An introduction to the philosophy of mind, including such topics as the mind/body problem, the nature of consciousness, perception, and theories of mental content. Special attention is paid to philosophical questions that arise in psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities. iCon(s): Being Human, Examining Health, Innovating the World.
4.00 credit hours An examination of aesthetic experience, the norms which govern aesthetc judgment and the significance of the idea of beauty in our experience of art and nature.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Arts, U.S. Power Structures. iCon(s): Being Human, Challenging Inequity, Examining Health, Experiencing Place.
4.00 credit hours An inquiry into the nature of scientific evidence, laws, explanations and theories, as well as the nature of the relationship between the natural and social sciences.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities. iCon(s): Being Human, Innovating the World.
4.00 credit hours An examination of topics in contemporary and/or classical ethical theory. Course may focus on key figures in ethical theory or issues in normative ethics and metaethics. Topics have included virtue ethics, feminist ethics and relationships between normative ethical theory and social or natural sciences.
4.00 credit hours Examines feminist contributions to and criticisms of philosophy. Students are exposed to both historical and contemporary figures in feminist philosophy, including Mary Wollstonecraft, Simone De Beauvoir, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Judith Butler. Topics include women’s rights, feminist political and ethical theory, the role of gender in identity formation, and gender at the intersection of race and class.
Prerequisite(s): One Philosophy or Gender and Sexuality course. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, U.S. Power Structures. iCon(s): Challenging Inequity, Engaging Civic Life.
4.00 credit hours An investigation of political philosophy in the Western philosophical tradition. Students question how we ought to live together, organize social life, and structure our political institutions. Topics covered include individual freedom, the distribution of property, ideal forms of government, race, gender, and class.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions, U.S. Power Structures. iCon(s): Challenging Inequality, Engaging Civic Life.
4.00 credit hours An examination of the basic issues in the philosophy of religion, including the relation of faith and reason, the problem of the existence and nature of God.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions. iCon(s): Being Human.
PHIL 363 - Science and Religion: Conflict or Dialogue?
4.00 credit hours An examination of the contemporary dialogue between science and religion in relation to different Western and Asian religious traditions. The course considers the implications of recent scientific theories for understanding and assessing the belief systems of various theistic and non-theistic religions.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities. iCon(s): Being Human.
4.00 credit hours Part three of the History of Philosophy sequence:The Analytical and Continental Traditions from the 20th century through the present day.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities, Ethical Dimensions. iCon(s): Being Human.
4.00 credit hours An examination of such topics as theories of knowledge, truth and justification of belief, the problem of skepticism, the mind-body problem, the problem of universals and theories of being.
Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Humanities. iCon(s): Being Human.
4.00 credit hours Examination of a major philosopher or central problem in one of the areas of philosophy such as philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology or value theory.
0.00-12.00 credit hours Valuable professional experiences supplement classroom instruction and allow students to apply theories and concepts to broader issues and system. Students explore career options within a specific area of study and critically reflect on the experience in a structured manner. May be repeated with different professional experience.
4.00 credit hours Physics of sound, musical instruments and musical recordings. Production and propagation of sound waves, physical principles underlying pitch and timbre of musical instruments and the human voice, digital audio. Laboratory required.
Prerequisite(s): High School Algebra II and ability to read music. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Sciences. iCon(s): Being Human.
4.00 credit hours Celestial phenomena, the sun and solar system and the observable universe with emphasis on astronomy as a scientific activity relevant to the perception and comprehension of our world. Laboratory required, includes observational techniques and physical principles relevant to astronomy and astrophysics.
4.00 credit hours Kinematics, Newton’s Laws, conservation laws, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. Laboratory required. Credit may be earned for only one of PHYS 131 and PHYS 161.
4.00 credit hours Oscillations, waves, sound, electricity and magnetism, and optics. Laboratory required. Credit may be earned for only one of PHYS 132 and PHYS 162.
Prerequisite(s): PHYS 131 and Precalculus (Algebra & Trigonometry) competence. iCon(s): Innovating the World.
PHYS 160 - Einstein and Heisenberg: Physics of the Fast and the Small
2.00 credit hours Introduction to the special theory of relativity: Galilean relativity, space-time diagrams, Lorentz transformations, relativistic collisions and conservation of four-momentum. Introduction to the principles of quantum physics, Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics, Pauli’s spin matrices.
4.00 credit hours Newton’s Laws of motion, energy conservation, rotational motion, thermodynamics. Laboratory required, includes experimental physics and an introduction to computational modeling. Credit may be earned for only one of PHYS 131 and PHYS 161.
Prerequisite(s): CSCE 160; MATH 151 or concurrent enrollment. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Sciences.
PHYS 162 - Physics II: Electromagnetism, Waves and Optics
4.00 credit hours Oscillations, waves, electricity, magnetism, optics. Laboratory required, includes experimental physics and computational modeling. Credit may be earned for only one of PHYS 132 and PHYS 162.
PHYS 200 - Electronic Instrumentation for Scientists
4.00 credit hours Survey of electronics with focus on application to scientific instrumentation. Topics include digital principles, combinational and sequential logic, digital applications, DC and AC circuits, discrete semiconductors, operational amplifiers. Focus is on applied learning in the laboratory. Laboratory required.
Prerequisite(s): MATH 151; PHYS 132 or PHYS 162 or concurrent enrollment. iCon(s): Innovating the World.
4.00 credit hours Classical mechanics with application to engineering problems. Topics include equivalent systems of forces, centroids, analysis of trusses and frames, machines and forces due to friction, virtual work, hydrostatic pressure.
4.00 credit hours Analysis of stress and deformation of materials. Applications to the design of machine and structural elements subjected to static, dynamic and repeated loads.
4.00 credit hours An introduction to quantum physics. Quantum phenomena, the Schrodinger equation, analysis of one-dimensional potentials, the hydrogen atom and the electronic structure of multi-electron atoms, spin-orbit coupling.
Prerequisite(s): PHYS 162; MATH 253 or concurrent enrollment. iCon(s): Innovating the World.
2.00 credit hours An exploration of the experimental foundations of quantum physics. Selected experiments from the photoelectric effect, electron impact spectroscopy, Bragg scattering and x-ray diffraction, single photon two-slit experiment, molecular spectroscopy, muon decay and others.
Prerequisite(s): PHYS 263 or concurrent enrollment.
4.00 credit hours Newton’s Laws, projectile and charged particle kinematics, conservation laws and oscillations. Advanced methods in mechanics. Mathematical methods introduced as needed. Laboratory required, focuses on computation and modeling.
2.00 credit hours Properties of crystalline solids. Crystal structure, reciprocal lattice, x-ray diffraction, electrical conduction, band theory, semiconductors and semiconductor devices. Other topics may include thermal properties, magnetic properties of solids.
2.00 credit hours Interrelationships among temperature, energy, entropy, and other properties of a physical system, examined at the macroscopic level using the tools of thermodynamics. Topics covered include equations of state, the laws of thermodynamics, energy, enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs energy, Maxwell relations, phase equilibrium. Laboratory required.
2.00 credit hours Interrelationships among temperature, energy, entropy and other properties of matter, examined at the microscopic level using the tools of statistical mechanics. Topics include macrostates and microstates, entropy, Boltzmann and quantum distribution functions; selected applications from paramagnetism, Einstein solids, blackbody radiation and others.
1.00 credit hours Professional development topics such as ethics, job seeking skills and safety. Students, faculty and guest presenters discuss research results in the format of a scientific meeting.
Prerequisite(s): 16 credit hours in Physics. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Preparation.
1.00 credit hours Students learn to search the scientific literature, read primary literature and orally present a journal article. Students, faculty and guest presenters discuss research results in the format of a scientific meeting.
Prerequisite(s): 16 credit hours in Physics. Cardinal Directions Designation(s): Career Preparation.
