Video Introduction from
Dr. James Pappas
Dean of the
College of Liberal Studies
6:46 
LSTD 3223 - Renaissance Art
The majority of the art made in Italy during the time of the Renaissance was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church for didactic, propagandistic, or devotional purposes. Therefore, artists had to devise a method of translating biblical and apocryphal texts into visual images of great beauty. In this class, we will explore how artists created these images, and what style, subject, compositional devises, techniques and materials they used to create such effective messages to the public. Thus, the focus of our discussion will be on explicating religious textual narratives and exploring how artists translated these ideas into visual form to create an effective message. The course will deal with painting, sculpture and architecture, yet we will highlight well-known artists such as Giotto, Raphael and Michelangelo.
LSTD 3233 - Special Topics in Humanities of the Ancient World
In this course, students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes found concurrently in both western and non-western cultures from Antiquity through the Renaissance. This course consists of four parts that are divided both chronologically and thematically, and focuses on different disciplines within the humanities.
LSTD 3243 - Special Topics in Western Humanities: Renaissance Through the Modern World
In this course, students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes found concurrently in both western and non-western cultures from the Renaissance through the Modern World.
LSTD 3253 - Foundations of Ethics in Liberal Studies
This course reviews ethical theory and issues in applied ethics. It reviews current issues, while looking at both sides of each argument. Each unit contains a set of guiding questions which are used in order to direct the student to look at the entire ethical view of each issue. Many basic questions must be addressed in order to help attain a decision on each issue. This course is to give the student a chance to look at each issue in a broad sense, while trying to develop your own view point on each topic.
LSTD 3263 - Art in Non-Western Culture
In this course, students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes found in non-western art from the ancient world to the modern world. Specifically, students will gain an introduction to the art of a variety of non-western cultures and examine the role that art history plays in the study of these visual objects. The course will be divided into four parts: African art; Asian Art of India, China and Japan; Native American art of North, Meso America; and South America and the Pacific.
LSTD 3313 - Creativity
Fresh ideas fuel progress. The arts, science, medicine, engineering, politics, business, education -- all thrive on continuous improvement. That requires breakthrough ideas. Where do such ideas come from? What are the proven idea-generating techniques? And which ones work best? Our course in creativity will address those questions. We will explore the thinking of both modern and historical icons.
LSTD 3323 - Sleep and Dreams
Sleep and dreams occupy approximately one third of our lives. This course is designed to review the history and current research regarding sleep. Theories of the purpose and significance of dreams will be investigated.
LSTD 4213 - The Bible as Literature
This is a course in the Bible as literature--that is, we will study the Bible as we would any other work of literature, even though it is in my opinion the greatest work of literature ever written. To study the Bible as literature means to approach it without concern for the doctrines of any particular religion. For instance, we will not assume that the Bible cannot contradict itself; we will see if it does or not. If this approach makes you uncomfortable, this is not the course for you.
We will use the King James Bible in this course. More modern versions may be more accurate translations of the Hebrew and Greek in a few instances, but that does make up for what is lost in the beauty of the language. The Kings James Version was compiled at one of the greatest moments in English literary history--the time of Shakespeare, Jonson, Webster, and Donne--(in fact, Shakespeare made an important contribution as we shall see when we get to the Psalms) and is not only beautiful in its own right, but it has inspired a great deal of later literature, and has been very widely quoted.
LSTD 4233 - Personal and Family Narratives
This course offers students ways of exploring their own and their family's past and, if they wish, with larger cultural and historical contexts.
The process of writing memoir is complex, but it need not be difficult. A memoir is what you can remember, and in the course of completing these units, you will find that one memory of an event, location, or person will trigger many others. This is a crucial step, and even as an end in itself it can be enormously satisfying.
Of course, it need not be the end of the process. Put into narrative form, memoirs are not only a way of passing information to others--children, grandchildren, extended family, and friends--but of understanding the story of one's life and of one's place in the context of local and even national history.
LSTD 4243 - Road Trip of the Mind
This course has as its primary objective the development of an understanding of various points of views and mindsets in the global community, with an end to developing writing skills, enhancing creative problem-solving abilities, improving an understanding of cultural diversity and conflict resolution, and enhancing one's awareness of how values, ethical positions, perspectives manifest themselves and how they evolve over time.
Road Trip of the Mind contains an analysis of how images, archetypal narratives, and various types of “authority” exert a deterministic influence on readers and audiences, and contribute to the “managing” of meaning. These processes can occur in overt ways, as in propaganda, or in more subtle ones, as is the case in films and advertisements.
At the end of the course, the student will have had several opportunities to examine perspectives that may be very different than his or her own “framework,” and will have analyzed the process by which conclusions were reached and knowledge generated.
LSTD 4253 - Culture and Science
This course will investigate the relations between science and culture as it has developed in the modern world, from the time of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, early in the nineteenth century, to the present day. Among the historical topics we will investigate will be the rise of modern science, skeptical rationalism, and empiricism since the Enlightenment, and their conflict with the faith-based knowledge and inquiry that had dominated in Europe in preceding centuries; the perceived conflict between scientific reason and feelings in the Romantic period; and the attack on scientific “social engineering” from Modernist culture in the early twentieth century.
Our more contemporary concerns will include issues of science literacy and where people get their information about science, the nature of science as a process, and the nature and importance of evidence in science, the public perception of science, and the ways science and culture clash in modern society. Is it possible for science and culture to be compatible in today's world?
LSTD 4263 - Environment and Philosophy
The purpose of this course is to help students understand the application of ethical thinking to environmental issues. Taking the course will help students grasp and evaluate ethical justifications given for environmental policy proposals.
LSTD 4273 - Jazz and the Global Community
A course about jazz, its social history, and its relationship to world cultures and the international community. Although jazz is no longer the most popular music in the United States, as it once was, its history and the issues surrounding its nature stand at the heart of a diverse America that has borrowed from cultures and traditions all over the world. Not only is jazz multicultural but it is also international; it has spread everywhere and has contributed to a developing global psyche.
LSTD 4283 - Socrates and Society
Socrates lived between 470 and 399 BCE. He stands alone as the first thinker in the Western tradition to focus upon Reason as the cornerstone of human understanding. Although there are sketches of his character in scant other writings, we only know Socrates’ thoughts through the writings of his student, Plato (427-348 BCE). The bulk of Plato’s writings are “dialogues” in which Socrates is a character who is intent upon examining the deeper issues of humanity. In these dialogues, Socrates’ unique approach to solving problems, understanding the world, and evaluating truth is considered unanimously to be the cornerstone of Western culture. This course will examine how Socrates approached problem-solving, the role of rational inquiry and critical thinking, and the value of philosophical wisdom, especially in the current world of conflicting ideologies and cultures.
LSTD 4293 - Art and Medicine
As a human being, you are surrounded by images and emotion. Health or wellness may be viewed from physical and spiritual aspects, each its own drama in life. How is medicine portrayed in art? What is your image of health? Can you draw, illustrate, paint, cartoon, sculpt, stain, or photograph? Can art heal? These are but a few of the questions you will contemplate in this course where art and medicine come together to expose your talent and possibly enrich your spirit. Or you can simply appreciate art and do not have to be an artist! This course will allow you to discover some of the greatest artists of history as they subjected medicine to the pen and brush. You will consider the human face (your own and others in portrait). Lectures alternate with fun and practical assignments to release your muse. Art materials are listed for student purchase and basic instruction in art principals will be provided to get you started. Enjoy, learn, and create!
LSTD 4323 - The History of Slavery
The main goal of the course is to increase your familiarity with the brutal history of bondage and to build the students skills in analyzing past events, especially through writing. Other goals include: To introduce students to a variety of slavery materials; To teach students the basic methods employed in historical research; To explore the possibilities for research and publishing on the Internet. Your grade will be based on writing assignments and a research project published on the Internet.
LSTD 4953 - Study in Depth
This course is designed to assist you in the completion of your study in depth paper, the capstone experience in the Bachelor of Liberal Studies Program. The course will focus on developing your thesis statement, locating and evaluating references, writing and organizing your paper, and putting your paper into its final form, including the list of references cited. This course is faculty driven with full flexibility for the director of the study in depth to manage the task in accordance with the subject undertaken.
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