BIPYIS 455 Biological Psychology (3)
INST 105 Preparing for College Success (2)
An introductory course in critical thinking and study skills and their relationship to academic success. Designed to help students develop skills in critical thinking, study strategies, goal setting, time management, and other related academic skills. Offered each semester.
INST 106 Analyzing/Understanding College Reading (2)
An introductory course in critical thinking as it relates to college reading success. Designed to help students develop skills in critical thinking and college reading. Offered each semester.
INST 111 Orientation Seminar for Non-Traditional Students (1)
Designed to help non-traditional students develop all of the college survival skills necessary to excel in their coursework, especially critical thinking. Offered each semester as needed.
INST 115 Student Leadership Development (1)
First year students explore leadership development through the use of both cognitive and experiential components, to gain a fundamental understanding of leadership and an opportunity to practice leadership, decision making, and other related skills. Prerequisite: INST 120. Offered each spring.
INST 123 Hampton Roads Service Learning (1)
Identical to PORT 123.
INST 124 Service Learning in Hampton Roads (3)
Identical to PORT 124.
INST 126 Music and Folk Culture of the Southern Appalachians (1)
Provides an introduction to the music and folk culture of the Southern Appalachians, including Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. It pays particular attention to the unique pre-World War II styles of rural dance music, social and religious music, and early commercially recorded music, including the old time string band, jug bands, clawhammer style of banjo playing, unaccompanied fiddling, shape note singing, and balladry. Students study the history, development, and structure of these regional music styles and are introduced to playing the music themselves in an old time string band or jug band. Offered in selected Winter Sessions.
INST 150 Introduction to Knitting (1)
Introduces students to knitting techniques as well as historical and sociological aspects of the handcraft. Knitting has emerged as a social and commercial phenomenon, newly popular in particular with young people. At the same time, knitting is an ancient craft and part of a long pre-industrial tradition of home production in Europe and North America. Students learn the basics of knitting, including choosing the right needles and yarn gauge for a pattern, casting on and off, the garter stitch, the stockinette stitch, following a pattern, and fixing mistakes. Students begin by completing a scarf, and then choose a simple project from the instructional book to complete individually. Meanwhile, class readings and discussions will explore the history and current sociological significance of knitting. Pass/fail grading. Offered in selected Winter Sessions.
INST 161 Bees and Beekeeping (1)
An introduction to the history, technique, biology, and practices of apiculture. It is an introduction to the fundamentals and pleasures of keeping bees as either a hobby or a business. The long history of beekeeping around the world, the various metaphorical and cultural meanings assigned to bees and beekeeping over time, the development of the Langstroth hive, and the theories behind the most modern hive management practices are studied. Essentials such as building of hives, supers, and frames, the capture of swarms, the installation of packaged bees, management of the hive throughout the seasons, requeening, and the harvesting of a honey crop are also studied. The basics of bee biology and hive organization, and the critically important methods of preventing disease and maintaining a healthy, productive colony are also covered. Offered in selected Winter Sessions.
INST 180 Rocky Mountain Ecology (3)
On-site study of the Rocky Mountain environment. Students study the nature and interrelation of plants and animals of montane, subalpine, and alpine life zones; aquatic ecology; geological history; and the impact of humans, including native American cultures, mining, and recent environmental issues in this area. Combination lecture and field course with study trips to a mountain stream, glacier lake, beaver pond, the continental divide, and historic mines and mining towns and canyons of the Great Plateau. Offered each summer.
INST 202 School and Society (3) (S)
A foundations course designed to develop an understanding of the historical, philosophical, and sociological foundations underlying the role, development, and organization of public education in the United States. The historical, philosophical, and sociological foundations of instructional design based on assessment data (relationships among assessment, instruction, and monitoring student progress to include student performance measures in grading practices, the ability to construct and interpret valid assessments using a variety of formats in order to measure student attainment of essential skills in a standards-based environment, and the ability to analyze assessment data to make decisions about how to improve instruction and student performance) are addressed. Attention is given to the legal status of teachers and students, including federal and state laws and regulations, school as an organization/culture, and contemporary issues in education. Offered each semester.
INST 220 Women in Culture & Society (3)
INST 224 Career Exploration and Externships (1)
Provides an introduction to a career field of choice, an externship experience within that career field, and subsequent reporting and processing. Students spend the first week researching careers and the site at which they will extern. The second week consists of the on-site enternship. The final week is used to document, process and present the lessons learned. Prerequisite: consent. Offered in selected Winter Sessions.
INST 230 Women of the Caribbean (3)
Students explore, assess, analyze and apply feminist theories as they relate to themselves and to the women of the Caribbean. The course focuses on the social, political and cultural similarities and differences among American and Caribbean women. Students take a trip to one of the Caribbean islands for further research and study. Offered in selected Winter Session.
INST 235 Intermediate Honors Topics (3)
Analysis of some issue or aspect of culture from the perspective of more than one academic discipline. Often team-taught, and always created just for the honors program, these courses require significant reading, research, and writing. Exemplary work can receive an H (honors) grade. This course may be repeated for credit as the topic varies. Prerequisite: admission into the honors program or consent. Offered each year.
INST 280 Gender and Relationships in the Ancient Western World (3)
INST 287 Sophomore Honors Seminar: Gender and Society (3)
INST 290 Alpine Ecology I (3)
A 15-day summer-study program based in Chamonix, France, in the heart of the Mont-Blanc region. The ecology, biology, geology and history of the Alpine region is studied. Included in the course is an examination (including ethical considerations) of the impact of humans upon this environment. Lectures and field course work with study trips to mountain peaks, lakes, rivers, meadows and villages are used to familiarize students with this majestic area. Students focus on the Chamonix/Mont-Blanc region with daily minibus excursions to the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. Prerequisite: consent. Offered summer of odd-numbered years.
INST 292 Alpine Ecology II (3)
A 15-day summer-study program based in Chamonix, France, in the heart of the Mont-Blanc region. The ecology, biology, geology and history of the Alpine region is studied. Included in the course is an examination (including ethical considerations) of the impact of humans upon this environment. Lectures and field course work with study trips to mountain peaks, lakes, rivers, meadows and villages are used to familiarize students with this majestic area. Daily (and possibly overnight) hikes in the Mont-Blanc region, taking students through the spectacular French, Italian and Swiss Alps are included. Prerequisite: consent. Offered summer of odd-numbered years.
INST 301 Technology for Teaching (1)
INST 303 Applied Technology for Innovative Instruction (3)
Provides an opportunity for the student to master introductory concepts and to gain experience in the use of technology aids to produce educational materials, instructional units, and to increase the efficiency of instruction in the classroom. The course also provides the background and skills for educators to meet the Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel (TSIP), and provides opportunities to acquire necessary skills for teaching Computer/Technology Standards K-12 as outlined in the Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. Instructor consent for online section of course. Offered each semester.
INST 310 Junior Liberal Studies Seminar (1)
Encourages students to recognize and explore relationships and connections among courses from the various General Studies Frames of Reference. Using a systems approach, students examine past educational experiences and plan for future learning activities. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: junior status, liberal studies major or consent. Offered fall of even-numbered years.
INST 315 Managing Diversity in Organizations (3)
Intended to promote both the awareness of cultural differences and a positive attitude toward these differences. It includes various topics related to recruiting, hiring and effective management of people from different cultural and demographic backgrounds. It is built around five diversity dimensions: 1) race and ethnicity, 2) gender, 3) age, 4) disability and 5) nationality. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: freshman English requirement completed. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.
INST 320 Liberal Learning Seminar (3)
An interdisciplinary study of the process of active learning, creative problem solving, and ethical reflection. The course encourages a complex imagination and intellectual energy which actively strive to connect, integrate, and interrelate human experience with that of a liberal education. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.
INST 330 Methods of Social Research (3) (E)
Surveys the various methods employed in social research. Topics covered include: foundations, research statistics, case study methodology, interview methodology, survey research methodology, interpreting research and participant observation. This course does not concentrate on experimental research design. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Offered fall of even-numbered years.
INST 344 From Hitler to the Nasty Girl; Modern Germany Through the Cinema (3) (H)
Focuses on the history, politics, society, and the culture of Germany in the years between the rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1933) and the present. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Offered on demand.
INST 355 Science, Ethics, and Public Policy (3)
A particularly challenging area of social concern is explored in the context of the broader issues at the interface of science, ethics, and public policy. This special topics course involves a two-day symposium featuring presentations by several distinguished guest experts and an overnight trip to Washington, D.C. in which students receive briefings from political leaders and representatives of lobby groups on aspects of the policy-making process and policy concerns related to the course topics. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: junior/senior status. Offered in selected Winter Sessions.
INST 400 Issues in Leisure (3)
Seniors select a topic of personal interest, within the general area of Issues in Leisure, conduct research and demonstrate their ability to synthesize their topic with four of the six areas of study in the general studies courses. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors.
INST 415 Internships at Nauticus (3)
INST 420 The American Wilderness (3)
The Rocky Mountain life zones are used as a setting for an interdisciplinary study of natural wilderness areas. An empirical knowledge perspective focuses on method of study as well as on descriptions, definitions, and characteristics of wilderness areas. An historical perspective explores the evolving definitions of and attitudes toward wilderness. An institutions and cultural systems perspective examines both governmental and private approaches used for the management of wilderness areas. An ethical values perspective explores the effects of various beliefs, attitudes, and values upon choices related to wilderness. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: senior status. Offered each semester.
INST 430 Women's Studies/Gender Studies Seminar (3)
INST 435 Advanced Honors Topics (3)
An analysis of some issue or aspect of culture from the perspective of more than one academic discipline. Often team-taught and always created just for the honors program, these courses require significant reading, research, and writing. Exemplary work can receive an "H" grade. This course may be repeated for credit as the topic varies. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: admission into the honors program or consent. Offered each semester.
INST 444 From Hitler to the Nasty Girl: Modern Germany Through the Cinema (3) (I)
Focuses on the history, politics, society, and the culture of Germany in the years between the rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1933) and the present. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: junior status or consent. Offered on demand.
INST 470 Developments in Science and Technology (3) (I,W)
The nature of scientific inquiry and the role of science and technology in our society are explored by tracing the historical development and current state of several areas of science and technology. The influence that culture, politics, religion, economics, and society had (and have) on these developments is discussed, as well as the impact of these developments on the society. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisites: junior/senior status and one "E" course. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.
INST 482 Issues in Education (3) (I,W)
Students conduct a descriptive research project choosing a topic, developing a problem statement, reviewing the related literature, designing a survey, conducting interviews, and reporting the results. Emphasis on analyzing, evaluation, and applying quantitative and qualitative research. This Senior Project engages the student in active dialogue with peers, professors, and others in the community and on the Internet on critical contemporary issues which puts your liberal arts education to the test; foster integration and connectedness of knowledge rather than discrete bits of specialized knowledge; requires you to investigate the variety of perspectives, interests, and value systems operative in specific issues; and engage you in research using the resources of the college library and other libraries in the area. Does not fulfill divisional requirements for Latin Honors but may fulfill research requirements for summa cum laude. Prerequisite: senior status.
INST 485 Selected Topics (1-3)
Provides opportunities to explore current topics, trends, and issues related to curriculum, methodology, and evaluation. It is primarily intended to meet in-service and re-certification needs of practicing educators. Does not fulfill any requirements for Latin Honors. Prerequisite: consent. Offered each semester.